Winter Wonderland
by Amaranth33
Summary: The story of how Nixie, Guardian of Aspiration, takes the road to becoming an adult, learning the struggles of sudden death, living as a spirit, finding her center and being named a Guardian. Having retained her memories after dying, it is hard for her to let go of the those she left behind and accepting that her younger siblings will have to grow up without her. Possible romance.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

Hi there. My name is Nixie and I am a spirit like Jack, Sandy and Pitch. Who are they you ask? Well Jack and Sandy are Guardians and Pitch is a man who was consumed by the fearful and dark things in the world, you know him as Pitch Black or the Boogyman. I myself have recently been named a Guardian after about ten years. I'm the Guardian of Aspiration. What I do is I guide and heal. I usually reside in poverty stricken areas and am known only as spirit animal guides, being able to create such things and to lead children to help or heal them myself as an animal that represents what they need most. I also am known for giving advice and helping children become what they aspire to be. It's a very hard job I'll admit but it is very rewarding.

But for now I will show you the story of how I came to be. Which will start as how I first met the Guardians, when I was human.


	2. Chapter 1: Accepted

_Chapter 1 Accepted_

I stopped by the mailbox before going inside after school and looked through the mail as I headed up the driveway. It was December now, a month after having sent in my application to attend Appalachian State University and a few other choice colleges, but I was mostly anxious about the former.

I put the mail down so that I could drop my bookbag and jacket off in my room. I hadn't worn my jacket all day, even for Louisiana it was a warm day in December.

After dropping my things off I went back to looking through the mail to find in simple black lettering of the school I had been waiting for and ripped open the envelope, frantically reading the letter.

It took me several times to read the letter before it really sunk in because the disbelief had clouded my brain. I squealed and jumped around before running through the house to find someone, anyone home to tell but then remembered that no one else would be home for another ten minutes when Cameron and Lillian's bus dropped them off. I had been accepted to go to Appalachian next year and received a scholarship if I continued to pursue languages for my courses of study even into graduate school depending on how well I did during the first four years. How awesome is that?

Oh! Sorry I guess if you're reading this you would like to know my name before reading the rest of this stuff hu? Sorry about that. My name is Nixie West. I go to Benjamin Franklin high school in New Orleans, Louisiana where I grew up. I'm seventeen years old, about average height and weight (though athletic having many sports that I like to participate in) Also I have short blue hair. Don't ask, I don't know, my mom has it too, she says it's some kind of genetic deficiency and I also have matching dark blue eyes.

I like to say that I grew up in the wrong part of the world because I am a winter lover. I can't get enough of snow, ice and cold weather. One of the reasons I was so excited about being accepted in Appalachian is because it is at a high elevation so they get a lot of snow, also I spend every winter break in Boone, North Carolina (not far from the university) so I know the area and love it. Not to mention the fact that it has great language programs.

I was so consumed by my excitement that I almost forgot to go pick up my siblings from the bus stop. I made it right as the elementary school bus pulled up and dropped them off. We walked home and headed inside. There was only one and a half more weeks until Winter break and I haven't even started packing for that and I highly doubt Lillian and Cameron did either (although they're six so I'm not surprised). I ruffled their blonde hair just to make them mad. It worked of course, they gave me their best 'I want to be mad but I love you too much' glares. Their bright blue eyes gave away their thoughts though so I just smiled.

I finished up my homework as mom came home from work and immediately handed her the letter and we cheered together as dad came home.

"What's with you two crazy ladies making so much noise?" He asked teasingly.

Mom handed him the letter, he smiled and said, "Congrats Snow."

Snow is a nickname my dad gave me when I was little, when I first started ice skating and when I was a baby and first saw snow I had, apparently, to be unwilling taken inside kicking and screaming. Even as an infant I loved snow and winter but there had always been something that bothered me. I can see things, and no they're not dead people! But ever since I was very little I had always been haunted by these terrifying black creatures with gold eyes, usually nightmarish horses that were like dark smoke and sand. They've always plagued my dreams as well.

Some good dreams tried to fight them it seemed but they always ruled out. It didn't matter if I was asleep or not and it wasn't the dark that bothered me because they weren't always there, they just had strength and came from the shadows and it seems that I'm the only one who can see them. I sure don't know anyone else who can. There was also something else, someone that I use to always go to mom and dad about, by the time I was eight they told me that I was getting to old for this so I stopped telling them about the man who continued to control the nightmares and haunt me until I was twelve and learned how to ignore it for the most part.

Anyways now is not the time for things like that. I've grown up and besides it's not important, not anymore.

"Does this mean you'll be leaving us?" Lillian asked.

"No of course I would never really leave you. I'd just be going away for a little while and come home sometimes. When school starts back after summer is when I will be going away but I'll be coming right back for Thanksgiving and I'll be waiting for you at the mountain house when you come for winter break and I'll be home over Spring break and then back home for summer. I won't be moving out on my own for several more years." I explained.

"Oh, okay." She answered in a tone that said she understood it a little more, Lillian and Cameron are both very smart and mom and dad told me that I always was as well. I guess that's what you get when you're the children of a doctor with a degree in Musical Theatre and a dentist with a degree in Arabic and Latin (man my parents are smart).

After dinner I decided to go for a walk for a while, thank god it's Friday (the first person to start singing that Rebecca Black song will be Gibb's slapped in the back of the head), since I had already finished my homework I was free over the weekend. I headed out the door into the cool night air. It had gotten colder, and not just the usual day to night chill but feeling like it was below the normal forty-five degree low temperature. It felt more like thirty-five. Thinking back on the weather they were calling for a cold front being blown down from up north with a chance of snow. The chance of snow was purely laughable and just thinking about it make me laugh out loud.

"Yeah right, they're just saying that because they want some snow too. Even if snow did fall it wouldn't stick, it would just fall so we could see it and simply melt like always." I said to myself while walking.

"Aw come on have a little faith in Jack Frost." A male voice off to my right said. I turned to see a guy around my age with messy snow white hair, bright blue eyes and wore a blue hoodie with frost designs on it, brown pants with similar designs and carried a staff, like those really old sheep herding ones but also had the appearance of being covered in frost. He didn't wear any shoes and socks which wouldn't be anything unusual around here besides at this time of the year.

I knew exactly who he was, I had seen him over winter break once when I was twelve and would never forget him and breathed, "Jack Frost."

"Woah hey wait a minute you can see me? You can hear me?" He asked surprised.

"Am I not supposed to?" I asked.

"Well not many people can but especially not so far from cold areas." He replied.

"Because it's too warm down here to keep snow. I don't think many people around here would even know your name if I ever mentioned it." I concluded.

"How do you know who I am? How is it that you can see me?" He asked.

"My family goes to the mountains further up north for winter break and people around there would talk about you so I did some digging once when I was about twelve I guess I saw you flying around making snow and freezing over the roads. Never stopped believing after that." I explained. I felt giddy with excitement, here I was actually talking to Jack Frost who was in New Orleans of all places.

"What are you doing here in New Orleans? Shouldn't you, I don't know be giving snow to a colder climate area like Colorado or Main?" I asked confused.

"I wanted to give some snow to the warmer parts of the world that would be okay with it." He answered with a shrug.

"Well Louisiana would definitely be okay with it I think." I replied.

He gave a smirk and said, "Good."

I noticed that as he moved the design of the frost on his clothes changed, something I had to comment on, "That frost changing design is really cool."

"Hu?" He looked at his hoodie, "Oh right, uh thanks. So you know my name, what's yours?" He asked.

"Nixie West." I replied.

"Nixie? No offence but what kind of name is Nixie?" He asked with a laugh.

"My first name is Old German and I like it because it means water spirit." I replied in a flat tone crossing my arms.

"Sorry, not meaning to offend I've just never heard of it before." He said holding his hands up in surrender.

"Clearly." I replied and asked, "So why show up here in New Orleans? I get the whole wanting to give snow to the south every couple years or so but why hang around here?"

"Just flying around and I heard your comment. Now I'm curious about you since you're a teenager and you believe in me. What about the others? Tooth Fairy and Sandman and so on?" He replied.

"I believe in them. When I was little I had almost caught the Tooth Fairy, or someone getting one of my teeth, by accident." I answered.

"What makes you think that?" He questioned wrapping his arms around his staff and leaning on it in a really cute-laid back sort of way.

"Because it jabbed me and woke me up. My parents still try to tell me it was a dream but it was a pretty hard jab and at the last second I saw what I had thought was a little humming bird." I said with a shrug.

"And Sandman? What reasoning do you have to believe in him? I can get Santa and the Easter bunny because what they do is more noticeable." He said, sounding curious.

I didn't answer. Sandman was the one that I most strongly had reason to believe in, he fought to help me as a child and I have never heard of anyone having nightmares being changed into good dreams and back like a tennis ball in a match. Things like that just didn't happen on their own and the nightmares were being caused by someone and that someone wouldn't just change them to good dreams and back like that. Instead of replying I decided to change the subject.

"Is it really so rare for a teenager to believe that you feel the need to ask all of these questions?" I asked.

"For a teenager your age yes, what are you fifteen? Sixteen?" He asked.

"Seventeen, going to be eighteen in a couple months." I replied.

"Well you're almost an adult, I'd say you're one of...I don't know five or six in the world to still believe. And the other few don't believe in me, you do so you're an even rarer case." He answered.

"Well don't I feel special." I answered.

"It can be both a good and bad thing. Well I'm off to drop the temperature to bring a snowstorm to the south. Hope you like snow." He answered.

"It is tied with ice as my favorite thing. I look foreword to seeing snow around here." I replied with an excited smile and gave a wave as he flew off. At the last minute I decided to go to the ice skating rink to skate for a little while checking the time, it being about seven and the rink closes at midnight on weekends. No one was there so I took the opportunity. I pulled out my skates from my locker along with the CD player in the locker room and put one of my mixed CD's in it. Once on the ice I started the music and began to free skate, which, for me, is the best way to come up with a routine.

The first song that played was "Neverland" by U-Kiss. I plan to use this song for my next routine so it was both free skating and planning, keeping in mind what I liked best at a certain part of the song and experimenting while taking notes in my head.

The next few songs were "Sherlock" by SHINee (my friend Casey named it one of my theme songs), "Sell Your Soul" by Hollywood Undead, "Gorgeous Nightmare" by Escape the fate and "Haru Haru" by Big Bang. I didn't look like it but I really like rock music and music of other cultures, especially Korean pop and Japanese rock like "Resonance" by T.M. Revolution. Besides Casey I didn't know anyone who liked music from other countries, of course there are others, I've seen the fanbases on the internet, there are just very few around here. Good thing Casey and I found each other.

**My little notes:** This is actually the second Rise of the Guardians story I've started, the other is going through changes, I may or may not post that one. This one may have romance as OCXJack Frost (still deciding but I still freaking love Jack) while the other is an OCXPitch (let me know if you'd like that one to be posted). This one had to be given a couple of big changes because originally Nixie was going to be the Guardian of Curiosity and controls water but I have been reading another fanfiction on here (I think it's the Selene Snow one) where the OC ends up becoming the Guardian of Curiosity and controls water and yes I did have the idea for mine before I even started reading that fanfic (guess great minds think alike) so I made changes and used an idea my sister had for a Guardian of Aspiration...so yeah.

Unlike my other two stories on here the chapters will be as long or short as I want instead of having them about the same length and the updating will be as I can or want to. Next week is the last week of semester before exams so it's crazy right now and because of reason above I have to go through what I currently have to make the few little necessary changes.


	3. Chapter 2: Snow Day

_Chapter 2 Snow Day_

Jack Frost noticed Nixie walking into an ice skating rink and decided to see what she was up to. He couldn't help but be curious about her since she was a very rare person to end up meeting. Someone who is almost an adult believing, not only in Tooth, Sandy, North and Bunny but also himself, someone who had virtually no reason to believe in him and she did, developing belief on her own after doing a bunch of research after hearing about him.

She put a CD into the CD player after putting her skates on and played the music. Obviously a mixed CD and most of the music Jack didn't recognize, only around half of the songs, or less, were in English. He had to admit she was very good, she clearly loved ice skating. Although if she were using the preferred music in a real competition her song choice and performance would stand out immediately, even if lyrics in the songs were allowed.

She didn't stop once until the CD ended and checked the time. She decided that she still had time it seemed and put another CD in after a short break and skated until that one too finished. She checked the time again, looking surprised and put her things away before leaving. Jack headed off as well to other parts of the south spreading snow.

As I headed out the door the freezing cold air hit me hard, might as well have physically smacked me as the wind blew making it even colder. The temperature had dropped at least another five or ten degrees since first going into the building, so it was likely below freezing.

_Is it actually necessary to drop the temperature that fast?_ I thought, only having worn a hoodie on my walk.

I walked home with my hands in my pockets gripping my can of pepper spray and phone as I walked, having already called my parents to let them know that I had left the rink. It wasn't very often but there were a few gangs here and there that would pass through the middle class areas. Out of the corner of my eyes I noticed movement in the shadows. It wasn't a gang member, I would have easily seen them in their neon attire and paint but I didn't want to find out what it was and walked faster.

The movement came again, closer this time and I caught something other than black. A pair of bright, angry gold eyes and knew exactly what it was. I picked up the pace and jumped into a sprint, not stopping until I was in my house and the door locked behind me.

"You were almost late." My mom said as she walked by to go to bed.

"I know how to keep up with the time." I answered and told her goodnight. Dad was already in bed as were Cameron and Lillian (or so I and my parents thought). I turned out the lights and went to my attic bedroom where I found Cameron and Lillian asleep in my bed with the lamp on. I went over to the bed and nudged them awake.

"You're finally home." Cameron grumbled rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Did you two have bad dreams?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you weren't home yet so we waited for you until we fell asleep I guess." Lillian answered.

"I'm sorry." I said while wrapping my arms around them.

"Why do you stay out so late?" Cameron asked.

"Well when you get to be my age you just can't sleep until later at night and it's hard to wake up until later in the morning, but I promise I'll come home earlier. Besides I met Jack Frost." I said.

"Really? What's he like?" Lillian asked.

"I guess kind of like a normal teenage guy, didn't talk that long though, but seemed like a fun-loving person. White messy hair bright blue eyes, wears a blue frosted hoodie and brown pans, no shoes or socks and carries a staff that is frosted too." I replied.

"Cool! But still don't be out for very long right now. I've been having bad dreams." She said.

I hugged them and said, "I'll be home earlier more often. I promise. You can sleep in here if you want, I'll be right out."

I grabbed a pair of pajamas from my dresser before going to my bathroom, changed and got ready for bed. By the time I came out they were both asleep once again. Cameron slept on the side of the wall with Lillian in the middle so that left me at the end. I climbed into bed and soon fell asleep receiving some bad dreams of my own.

I was woken to Cameron and Lillian jumping on the bed yelling, "Wake up! Wake up! It's snowing! It's snowing! Jack Frost really did come to visit!"

I sat up immediately and ran to the door to my little balcony, my siblings had already thrown the curtains aside and opened the blinds to reveal a semi-white yard and snow was still falling. Cameron and Lillian ran down the stairs to their rooms as I immediately changed clothes and raced down the stairs as well. I put my hat, gloves and scarf on as I went down and hopped from one foot to the other while tugging my boots on while my siblings came out of their rooms doing the same. I grabbed my camera while Cameron and Lillian ran to wake mom and dad up so they could see as I went outside taking pictures.

Suddenly a wild Casey tackle hugged me right onto the dusted grass where the snow was thickening by the minute.

"Snow! Oh my gosh can you believe it? Snow in New Orleans! This is so awesome! Looks like that winter guy you told me stories about decided to pay us a visit." She said happily. I pushed her off and we helped each other up.

"You mean Jack Frost." I corrected.

"Right, Jacky Frosty old man winter, that guy." She answered.

I laughed and asked, "Jacky Frosty?"

"Yeah." She answered. I rolled my eyes.

I took more pictures as many who were coming outside were doing as well until a snowball hit me right in the face. It was cool though I had been able to get a picture of Cameron throwing it and the ball coming at the camera.

"Snow! Stop taking pictures and play!" He wined at me. I smirked and put my camera safely inside. As I came back out I said, "You shouldn't have done that Cam, now I'm going to get you!"

I made two snowballs and ran after him, throwing them at him as he ran.

A four way snowball fight broke out among us and we were soon able to get my parents in on it as well turning into an adults verses kids war.

Mom and dad headed inside after about an hour and the rest of us followed suit to actually get something to eat for breakfast since we had come out right after we had woken up.

Casey joined us and we sat in the living room watching the weather channel as well as the snow falling outside. The grass was no longer visible and everyone was giddy as the snow started to stick onto the roads.

I inhaled my food and was back outside again. I flopped onto the grass and laid back letting the snow fall on me, the smell of firewood burning starting to spread and linger.

"Thanks for the snow Jack." I said aloud.

"You're welcome." The somewhat familiar voice of Jack said next to me. I turned my head to see him leaning against the porch a few feet away. I smiled.

"Salut." I said with a wave.

"Do all people around here speak French?" He asked.

"It's the second language spoken in Louisiana, if a lot don't speak it fluently then many will still use phrases and some words." I replied.

"I've been wondering, why do you dye your hair blue? Just to be different?" He asked.

"Why do you dye your hair white Snow Cap?" I countered. He gave a confused expression and said, "I don't."

"Exactly." I answered.

"So you don't dye your hair?" He asked.

"Nope. Mom says it's some kind of genetic defect but I'm not a Biology kind of person so I just take her word for it." I responded.

"Jack Frost!" Cameron half yelled in excitement and ran up flopping on top of me saying, "Snow it's Jack Frost!"

Jack gave a small smile that was probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

"Jack this is Cameron, my little brother, and that's Lillian, my little sister." I said while pointing to Lillian who was coming outside and looked over curiously.

"Are you? Are you that boy Snow tells us stories about? Jacky Frosty?" Lillian asked him as she walked up. Typically Lillian can be a very intimidating little girl. She could quickly and easily pull the innocent little girl but she and Cameron both are very smart, it makes me jealous. Lillian is usually pretty serious around new people and quick witted, they're only six but even they can outsmart many kids my own age and they have fun doing it too. Yes those two would be going to some huge school that I would never hope to get into.

"Jacky Frosty?" He asked with one eyebrow raised.

"My friend Casey decided to start calling you that today." I explained. He still looked confused but said, "Uh, okay. I am Jack Frost yes. You can see me too."

"Nixie makes sure we uphold belief and now it won't ever waver!" Cameron said with a smile.

Jack smiled. Casey came out but doesn't seem to be able to see Jack and she asked, "Nix why are you laying in the snow? I know you go to the mountains over winter break but the snow is about to cover you, you'll get sick like that."

"The snow is glorious and comfortable, besides I'd be safer from the cold if it was all around, it traps heat well when compacted, why do you think igloos work so well?" I replied. I pushed Cameron off and started making a snow angel.

"I'll take you're word for it but don't wine to me if you get sick and don't blame Jack Frost for your stupidity either." She replied.

"If I get sick then you can say I told you so and I will have no one to blame but myself and my apparent lack of common sense." I replied.

"It's true you don't have common sense. You're even almost too curious for your own good." Casey replied.

"I do too have common sense." I argued.

"You don't and you know it. You're one of the most reckless people I know." She responded and got my new answer. A snowball to the chest.

She threw one back.

"Casey returned fire! This is war!" I declared and threw a snowball at her. Lillian took Casey's side while Cameron took mine.

"Join us Jack!" I said to him and threw a snowball at him, hitting him in the side of the head, as we ran around throwing snowballs at each other. He laughed and joined in the war. Casey didn't know it but it turned into a three way war with our teams and Jack on his own. Of course he could be his own snowball war army. Other kids in the neighborhood soon joined in and the war moved to other yards and into the street.

"I wish we could go sledding." One of the kids said.

"Please who here has sleds?" Another asked.

"We do." I said. Lillian, Cameron, Casey and I went to grab some sleds. Together my siblings and I had two sleds each at the house. They worked well for riding down the creek nearby into the lake over the summer with the slippery smooth boulders that the water ran over.

We showed them the safe way to use the sleds and the best ways and the sledding commenced. We were lucky that our street was a long steep enough hill we were able to sled in the yards.

"You wanna sled?" I asked Jack.

"Nah, but I will race you." He replied and started to float.

"Flying is cheating, but you're on." I answered. I put my plastic sled on the packed snowy ground and took a running start before jumping on and stood on the sled like I would a snowboard and was off. It was a little harder to stand on a sled over just using a snowboard since you're feet are secure on it but I made it work.

Jack tried to knock me down with snowballs but missed. My guess is that he wasn't actually trying to hit me, just startle me to get me to fall but there was no way I was going to let that work. I couldn't help but laugh, or at least until a sudden jump made of ice and snow formed in front of me. I flew over it and once the sled landed I lost my balance and fell to the ground.

"You cheater!" I playfully scolded, laying on my back and staring up at the gray sky as snow continued to fall. The roads were already starting to freeze over and I would guess that the snow was now at five inches or so. Past the highest recorded amount.

"You can't deny that it wasn't fun." He responded.

"I never said it wasn't I was just calling you a cheater." I replied.

After another few hours kids started to go home to warm up, including Casey. Lillian and Cameron wanted to stay outside but they were soaking wet and probably cold so I made them go inside. I allowed myself to warm up for a few minutes and grabbed a a snack before going back outside for a walk while Jack hung out with Lillian and Cameron. After about fifteen minutes of walking I noticed something up in a high tree that shone in the evening light. It wasn't too high up so I started to climb to see what it was.

Once I had a closer look I saw that it was a black and silver chain with what looked like an onyx pendant hanging from it. I reached out for it and pulled it off the limb it had gotten caught on. The second I touched it I couldn't help but feel nervous and an ominous feeling. Disregarding that as simply being high up in a tree I stuck the necklace into my pocket and started to climb down.

After only about three feet down the tree I slipped, lost my grip and fell the rest of the way down the tree. The branches did absolutely nothing to help as I landed at an odd angle on my ankle. I heard the snap but didn't feel anything for a few seconds but once the short adrenaline rush dissipated a fierce stabbing pain registered from my ankle into my brain. I bit down on my knuckles to keep from crying out in pain. I had broken my arm before and the pain was similar. I don't care how many times someone has broken a bone, unless you're brain doesn't register pain, it will hurt every time.

I let my ankle sit bare in the snow while taking deep calming breaths until it started to go numb. I called home and explained what had happened, leaving out how high it was that I actually fell from. My parents would kill me if they knew that I had climbed at least fifteen feet up a tree just to see what was shining up there.

**My random little notes and comments: **I already have a few chapters finished, I'm just reviewing and editing before posting so the first few chapters will be coming out quickly and since I have a writing streak for this story the pace won't be too much slower...so yeah. I'm always open to ideas, it's just that some may not be featured until later on in the story so if anyone is interested in that my pm is always open, review please! I am open to constructive criticism as well as ideas and comments! I think this will be all for today with posting, chapter 3 will probably be out tomorrow morning. Good night all!

HOLY SHIT BISCUITS I THOUGHT I POSTED THIS LAST NIGHT! I am soooooo sorry! I have the good night cause I meant to post this last night! Was I drunk or something?! Must have been sleep high, okay then here it is, sorry about that.


	4. Chapter 3: It's Okay to Be Scared

_Chapter 3 It's Okay to be Scared_

Mom showed up and helped me walk until we got home. She put my leg on the table and started to check it out. It was a very good thing that she's a doctor at the hospital. Although there were times where her health nut self got annoying, especially combined with dad being a dentist and his obsession with us taking care of our teeth. I understand that those things are important but sometimes they had moods where it was all they talked about and it was annoying.

Once she was satisfied that it was set correctly she wrapped it up tightly, put a splint on it and wrapped that up tightly as well. It was pretty much the same as a cast but homemade. But she did pull a little too hard when wrapping it up and caused a jolt of pain to shoot through me. I yelped involuntarily and bit down on my knuckles again.

Cameron and Lillian walked in wondering what was going on.

"What happened?" Lillian asked.

"I fell out of a tree and landed on my ankle wrong." I replied.

"You're sister is a curious person and acted on the impulse to see what was in the tree and shining." Dad said in a, 'so it was her own fault' tone of voice. I rolled my eyes and stood on my one foot while mom handed me the crutches and I headed up to my room. Of course it was just my luck to get hurt on the first real snow day in Louisiana and of all things to get hurt it had to be my freaking ankle! Why couldn't it have been my arm instead? I can stand a few weeks without gymnastics without going completely insane, will have to regardless but not being able to snowboard, ski, or participate in good snowball fights, not to mention the difficulty it will be to ice skate this way (but I will skate on one foot and no one will stop me) until I could get one of those boots on, that was going to suck.

"So you can't play anymore?" Cameron asked as he and Lillian followed.

"Of course I can. I just won't do as well as normal." I replied.

"Oh, okay." He answered.

Once at the top of the stairs I noticed Jack sitting on the floor setting out the dominoes. They covered a lot of the floor and it was hard to tell what they were going to make. I had lost about half of them so where had they been?

"How did you find all of these? I thought I had lost most of them." I asked.

"Cameron and Lillian were borrowing them." He answered.

"Hu…would have been nice to have been told that." I replied and looked around for places safe to step but that would be hard for Cameron and Lillian, the spots were too far away from each other.

"Cameron, Lillian do you mind flying to my bed so we don't mess this up?" I asked.

"Flying!" They cheered. I lifted Cameron up first and tossed him from the stairs to the bed. He laughed and bounced around before moving to make room for Lillian where she landed in the same place. I then jumped to the first opening almost forgetting about my ankle and shifted my position so that I landed on one hand. I had to switch hands to get my balance back and found a new opening for my other hand.

The next opening I had to allow myself to fall onto my non-broken foot into a bridge. I was now able to jump onto my bed and sat comfortably.

"So you're an ice skater and a gymnast? What happened to your ankle?" Jack asked while putting out the last few dominoes.

"Fell out of a tree and broke it." I answered.

"Why were you in a tree high enough to break a bone?"

"I saw something shiny and wanted to find out what it was so I climbed up to look. As I was coming down I slipped." I replied with a shrug.

"You just did fancy acrobatics with a broken ankle to get across your room and you expect people to believe that you just slipped?" He questioned skeptically.

I shrugged and said, "It's true. I was a little stunned myself but I guess it was just a little lapse of bad luck."

"What was it that you found?"

I pulled out the necklace and held it up for them to see.

"What in the world was that doing in a tree? How high up was it?" Jack asked.

"About thirty feet if I had to guess. The way it was hanging you would think that they had dropped it." I replied.

"From a plane or from higher up in the tree?" He questioned. I shrugged. It was weird since the tree wasn't much higher than where the necklace was so I guess it had just been dropped by someone, I don't know hang gliding or in a small plane?

"Guess someone flying a small plane dropped it." I said with a shrug.

"That's a possibility." He agreed and added, "Well I have other places to bring snow to, like Texas."

"You're leaving?" Cameron asked.

"Don't worry I'll be back Monday. It's not like you'll have school." He replied.

"Okay." He said with a smile.

"Thanks for the snow." I said with a wave.

"You're welcome. Don't break anymore bones." He answered before going out the door. It closed behind him with a small gust of wind knocking over the dominoes. They fell forming an intricate snowflake design.

"Whoa, that is cool." We said in unison. I took a picture before cleaning up the dominoes.

"Can we sleep in here tonight?" Lillian asked.

"Still afraid of the nightmares?" I asked. They nodded.

"It's okay to be afraid. Sometimes having fear is a good thing." I said.

"How?" Lillian asked skeptically.

"Sometimes it can be a good motivator, that's why we feel fear sometimes. We feel fear so we know that we need to do what it takes to escape harmful situations. Fear isn't usually a pleasant feeling to have but it's necessary for survival." I explained.

"But you're not afraid of anything." Cameron argued.

"I am. I have my fears, everyone does. We just interpret fear differently so we have different things that we're scared of." I replied.

"What are you scared of?" Lillian asked.

"I use to have these strong reoccurring nightmares when I was younger. Even in the day creatures from the nightmares would appear. I still see them on occasion but it's easier to face after all these years because there are fewer of them. They still scare me the few times I do see them, but the boogyman starts to leave you alone as you get older because most kids stop believing in that stuff when they grow up." I answered.

"But you still believe even if you're grown up." Cameron said.

I put my finger to my lips and whispered, "But the boogyman doesn't know that so he doesn't bother me like when I was younger."

"Oh." They said in understanding.

"Come on let's go get something to eat for supper and watch a movie." I said while getting up. They hopped up as well and raced down the stairs.

"Will they be sleeping in your room tonight?" Dad asked me.

"Yeah. They must have had a really bad nightmare to still not be over it." I answered.

"You know they will be lost without you next year." He replied.

"They won't. They'll be okay. They have you and mom and I'll always be with them, they know that." I answered as we went to the kitchen and sat at the table.

After dinner my brother, sister and I curled up in the living room with hot chocolate, well vanilla cappuccino for Lillian (the poor dear is allergic to chocolate) a movie and our nest of blankets and pillows. We decided on the movie "Mulan."

When the movie ended Lillian and Cameron were sleepy so we went up to my room. I tucked them in and told them stories (usually they wanted to hear stories about when I was a kid before they were born, god knows why my life isn't that interesting) until they fell asleep.

I sat at my desk doing some research for an English presentation until I heard a noise outside. It was an odd noise, like an angry horse, so I cautiously stepped out onto the balcony looking around to try and find the source of the sound when suddenly a large creature made of black sand with angry golden eyes appeared before me. It looked sort of like a demonic horse but when I was little they were rarely made of sand as I remember more like a smoke-like substance. The creature had razor sharp looking teeth. I immediately took a step back instinctively.

"So you do still believe. And all these years you've led me to think that you didn't. That really does hurt my feelings Nixie." A familiar voice said. His voice was smooth and relatively calm with a slight British accent to it. I couldn't help but love the sound of his voice, but of course it also struck fear right into my heart because it meant that _he_ wasn't very far away.

"I just grew up." I replied, forcing myself to stay calm. Showing fear only encouraged him.

"You have, and you teach differently than your parents. You don't deny the realities of fear do you? But you hope to teach acceptance of fear so that it is easier to overcome. But no matter how much you try to accept your fears it doesn't make overcoming them any easier." The voice said. I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from but I could tell that it was getting closer.

_This is just a bad dream. You have them sometimes. All you have to do is wake up. You can't be hurt in a dream, besides he's all bark and no bite._ I thought and kept my eyes on the horse who I wasn't so sure about the no bite part.

_It's a dream, it can't hurt me. I've grown up, I don't let fear rule my life anymore._ I continued to keep those thoughts in my mind as I took another step back, right into something that felt nothing like my door or the side of the house. It felt more like a person taller than me. I whirled around to the side to face the man that had haunted my dreams my entire childhood. I now had my back to the corner so that I could face the man and the horse.

It may have been about five years since seeing him in my nightmares but I would never forget him. His dark gray skin, jet black hair that stuck straight out at the back, the long black robe-like attire and his piercing golden eyes. I hoped that I had just fallen asleep at my computer because I had always feared that I would end up seeing him while awake the way I often did with the horses and other dark creatures that he controlled.

"Who are you? Why do you keep appearing in my dreams?" I questioned.

"You know very well who I am, you refer to me to your brother and sister as the boogyman as do many people to children." He replied with a sour expression.

"Is that your actual name or just a popularized name given to you?" I asked. I only used that silly name because that's what my siblings used, I had never even connected the man from my nightmares and the boogyman as the same person. If anything I thought this man was simply someone the boogyman created.

"The popularized name." He replied simply.

"Then what is your name?" I asked.

"Why do you care?" He questioned.

"I like knowing the names of people I know. It would especially be nice to know your name considering the fact that I've known you my entire life." I explained, forcing myself to stay calm.

"Pitch Black." He replied.

"Makes sense. Has that always been your name? Is that where humans get the words to describe ultimate darkness?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"You're even more nosy than you use to be." He replied.

"I like to use curiosity over nosy." I answered while trying to inch towards my door inconspicuously.

"I'm sure you know the saying 'curiosity killed the cat' then." He said smoothly.

"Of course I know it." I answered.

"Of course you would."

"You still didn't answer my second question. Why do you keep appearing in my dreams, or at least use to until now?" I questioned. Trying to stall for time until I could get into my room or inconspicuously do something to force myself to wake up, hopefully I was asleep for the latter plan to work.

"Why? Because you can see me and my nightmares, even when the Guardians and the few other children can't. But that is not why I'm here now, but it is nice to know that you haven't grown out of your believe." He replied.

"Then why are you here now?" I asked.

"You've got something of mine. I want it back." He replied.

"I don't remember ever taking anything from you." I answered.

"You didn't it was something I dropped that you found and broke your ankle over." He answered.

"The onyx necklace? Well the bad feeling it gave off to me certainly makes sense now. Why is it important if you were careless enough to drop it?"

"That is not your concern. Give it back and I will be on my way and allow you this one night of peaceful sleep." He responded.

"If it's something you really want then it can't be good so I think I'll just find a safe place to hide it from you so that it doesn't corrupt you anymore than you already are." I replied and inched towards my door a little more when suddenly the horse charged and knocked me into the rail so hard that it broke. I grabbed either side that wasn't broken to keep from falling twenty feet down. I did not want to risk another broken bone in case I was indeed awake.

"Terrible attempt, of course I'm sure you would have been more creative or faster without the injury. If you won't give me what is mine willingly I suppose I will have to make you, but for now it's time to wake up." He said and kicked my broken ankle viscously causing a sharp pain shoot up my leg and my eyes flew open.

**My little notes:** I meant to say this in the last chapter but I forgot what it was until now so a note on the character and her way of speaking, I am not very good with writing New Orleans/Louisiana accents (well any accents besides like Russian or maybe a little Romanian), I don't _think_ there has been many words that stick out that would have really been typed differently the only thing that would really stick out would be southern words used (I do live in the south just not New Orleans and haven't been back to New Orleans in about 4 years :( love that city) and French words and phrases (I haven had 5 semesters of French but if something is wrong please let me know). But yeah just wanted to put that out there so that readers know, I will be making more attempts if I bring in other characters, like classmates or random people.

Thank you to the first reviewer **LoverOfRumpelstiltskin **and thank you for the suggestion, I have not put much thought into the ideas for romance yet but the idea is intriguing and I think I know how I could incorporate that (no Vivian I don't count you because you're review was dumb, you could have said that to my face. :p Vivian is my twin sister, known as VivieAnne and is usually my editor)

Hmmm...I think that's everything to say for now, have a nice day!


	5. Chapter 4: Meeting Sandy

_Chapter 4 Meeting Sandy_

I stood up a little too quickly and hit my head on a shelf above me while putting a lot of pressure on my ankle. The scene would have been comical if it didn't hurt so much!

"Ow!" I hissed while falling to the floor and allowed a long stream of curse words hiss from under my breath. I looked over to see that Cameron and Lillian were sleeping peacefully with what looked like a light swirl of glowing gold sand hanging over them. The only one I could think of that would be causing that would be-

"Sandman?" I asked curiously.

A little man that he himself was gold with clothes made of gold sand appeared. He smiled a waved.

"You're the sandman?" I asked. He nodded with a smile.

"So you're the one who was trying to protect me when I was little, fighting the nightmares." I stated. His smile fell into a sad look but nodded and gave an apologetic look.

"You don't need to give me that look. It's okay, you have a lot of kids to protect every night, but if it's possible could you help keep bad dreams from Cameron and Lillian? I'll be going to college next year and my parents don't really understand the serious threat that nightmares can have." I responded. He gave two thumbs up with a smile so I took it as an agreement. I smiled and said, "Well I think I'll get some sleep. It's great to meet you."

He held up a ball of sand with an asking expression. Was he asking if I wanted him to put me to sleep?

"You want to put me to sleep?" I asked. He nodded, I shrugged and said, "Sure, why not?"

I sat on my bed as he tossed some of the gold sand in my face; I was out immediately and had a night of good dreams. Something that I have never, and would never, take for granted.

This time Lillian and Cameron allowed me to sleep in because when I woke up they were gone and when I checked the time it was ten a.m. I let out a huff and put my face back into my pillow.

"How can you breath like that?" A voice nearby asked. I shot up and looked around to find Jack sitting at my desk.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"Not long." He answered.

"Okay then why are you here? I thought you said that you would be gone until tomorrow." I asked.

"The snow was doing okay on it's own so I wanted to visit but I couldn't find your siblings, was about to wake you up." He answered with a serious expression.

"What?!" I almost shouted and jumped out of bed to run out to go looking for them and landed on my bad ankle.

I yelped in pain and fell to the floor but noticed that I didn't hit the floor. I felt two cool arms wrap around me before I hit the floor.

Lillian and Cameron burst from the closet laughing but noticed what had happened.

"Sorry, forgot that you were hurt." Jack said helping me stand.

"We wanted to surprise you." Cameron explained.

"Please...don't do that to me again. I was about to have a panic attack." I said weakly and sat on my bed, laying on my back while regaining my composure.

"Sorry." All three said in unison.

"You might want mommy to check your ankle." Cameron said.

"I know, just give me a minute." I replied before asking, "Did you two have good dreams?"

"Yes! I had a dream that we were visiting you at college and we got to stay in your room with you over the weekend!" Lillian said with a bright smile.

"I had one that started out as scary but turned good." Cameron said.

"Oh really? What happened?" I asked.

"I don't really know, I just remember being really scared and me and Lillian were alone in a dark creepy place in a cage and Jack was injured and in a cage too but then suddenly the dream changed to something completely different where Nixie changed into a bird and flew around, it was cool!" He explained.

"That's kind of weird." Lillian remarked.

"It would be cool to be able to change into a bird, or any animal really." I responded and slowly stood on one foot picked up the crutches and headed down the stairs to have mom check out my foot. She said it was fine and gave me one of those rubber covers that you use when bathing. I took it to my room and tossed it on my bed to use when we go outside in the snow again.

"What the heck is that?" Cameron asked.

"A cover to put over my ankle whenever I bathe so the cast doesn't get wet." I replied.

"So did you have any dreams Nixie? When did you get to bed?" Lillian asked me.

I chose my words carefully before saying, "I'm not really sure what time I went to bed. I sort of fell asleep at my desk before being startled by a book falling from the desk and hitting my foot. I went to bed after that. But I did get to meet the Sandman so I guess being startled awake and getting hurt can have it's advantages and he helped me get to sleep."

"You met Sandy?" Jack asked.

"Yeah the gold Buddha with spiky hair." I answered. He gave me a questioning look before laughing.

"Gold Buddha? That's new." He commented.

"Hey he does look kind of like a gold Buddha with spiky hair." I replied with a shrug.

"You met the Sandman, lucky!" Cameron and Lillian wined.

"I'm sure at some point you will meet him. I'm seventeen and met him for the first time." I replied with a shrug.

"Still." Cameron said.

"Have you two eaten yet?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we tried to wake you up but you were dead to the world." Lillian replied flatly. Geez that girl can really be blunt sometimes.

"Well I'm going to get ready and eat, you go on and have fun without me." I replied while getting a change of clothes together. Cameron and Lillian went down the stairs while Jack flew out the door.

The second I stepped out the door into the cold late-morning I was ambushed by all involved in a snowball fight, as in all kids on our corner.

"Hey now let me get out into the yard before ambushing me!" I protested, using my sled as a shield when I was tackled by Casey. She caused us both to fall on the sled and down the hill into bushes. We laid there in our pile of Nixie, Casey, sled, snow, ice and bush branches and immediately started laughing. I was lucky that my ankle didn't get hurt again.

"Next time please be careful I broke my ankle yesterday." I said to her after we calmed down.

"Yeah I know your brother and sister told me." She answered.

"You knew and yet you still tackled me like that?" I questioned.

"I didn't think we would fall like that. I don't plan things that well." She answered.

"Right of course you improvise everything." I responded and pushed her off into the snow and pushed myself up into a sitting position.

"Your friend is fun." Jack commented, floating above us. I nodded in agreement and let Casey pull me up.

"Since you pushed us down you get to help me back up the hill." I said to her.

"I intended to. What do you think I would just leave you to get up the hill on your own?" She asked innocently. I gave her a blank expression and said, "You would. Not on purpose, you would forget that I had a broken bone go up the hill like normal and then realize it, run back down, probably slip and fall. I would try to help you up and we'd both fall again and stay that way for about five or ten minutes."

"...Yeah I can see that being exactly what would happen." She agreed with a thoughtful look as she wrapped my arm around her neck and we made our way up the hill.

"I wonder if the pond is frozen enough to skate on, wouldn't it be cool to ice skate on a frozen lake or pond?" Casey asked.

"It would be cool but we'd have to go see." I replied while sitting on the porch steps and watched the younger kids building snow forts, having snowball fight and sledding. Curse me and my laps of bad luck. Of all the ways I could have broken a bone it had to be falling out of a tree.

"You know it's really not surprising that you fell out of a tree, outside of your preferred sports you're kind of klutzy yah know? It's pretty funny I think." Casey said, being perceptive as ever.

"I know. Guess I only have so much grace and all of it goes into my choice sports." I replied with a shrug and watched the kids playing. Casey joined in after talking to me for a little while and I just sat in the snow enjoying the day.

Jack disappeared after a few hours, of course that was no surprise, he was probably busy. Why he would spend more than an hour here anyway I wasn't really sure, I guess he did consider us friends, I did but everyone is different. He had mentioned that he had a friend in Michigan that he was going to go visit but other than that it seems he doesn't have that many human friends.

_So Jack Frost is a fun-loving, mischievous teenager and the Sandman is a sweet quiet little guy. Wonder what the others are like, like the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy or the groundhog for groundhog day._ I wondered while sitting in the living room and sipping hot chocolate with Casey and watching movies. The weather report had declared no school tomorrow so Casey and I weren't really worried about time when we went back outside again even though it was dark. I tucked Lillian and Cameron in and told them stories until they fell asleep before we left to go walking. I grabbed my crutches and we headed out.

"Don't let her break another bone okay Casey?" My dad said to her. She gave a thumbs up and said, "Can do Mr. West."

It was about nine when we got off our road and I could see streams of gold glowing sand flying through the air and going into different houses. Looks like the Sandman is working but I didn't see him, of course I didn't think I would since about half of the world was asleep right about now.

A small high pitch buzzing went right by my head and I turned my head in response but only saw a small flash of green before it was gone.

"Something wrong?" Casey asked.

"No, just something flew by my head." I answered.

"What was it?"

"Not sure, I guess it's was just a little bird or something." I said with a shrug as we continued walking.

"First time in history of getting out of school because of snow. This is probably the best December ever." Casey commented.

"Yeah." I agreed, my mind drifting to other things.

"Is your family still going to the mountains?" She asked.

"As far as I know unless the roads are frozen over." I replied with a shrug.

"If you do go then what will you do? I mean Snow boarding and skiing are kind of out." She asked.

"I will ice skate with one foot, probably read and sit outside and maybe practice German or something." I said with a shrug.

"German? I thought you were majoring in French and Arabic." Casey asked confused.

"Yeah...so?" I asked not understanding her confusion.

"How many languages are you learning?" She questioned.

I thought about it and said, "Five."

"So you know French already. You're learning Arabic and German. I'm guessing Japanese and Korean are on that list as well, the other being Chinese?" She guessed.

"Not yet, Latin." I replied.

"Latin...why? It's a dead language." She asked.

"Because I want to know Latin." I responded with a shrug.

"Geez you're such an ambitious person. Did you want to minor in something with medicine too?" She questioned.

"Eventually, it would be a useful thing to have a degree in." I replied.

"So what you're going to become an ambassador?" Casey asked confused.

"No, just a translator. You know travel around and be a translator for different people and help others." I replied.

"So you aspire to be a translator for generally anyone as well as helping people while continuing with sports? Am I getting that right?" She questioned.

"Yes." I answered.

"Gurl! Do you honestly think that you'd be able to manage that?" Casey asked.

"There's nothing wrong with having aspirations." I replied.

"I never said their was but that is a pretty high bar to set isn't it? Try starting off a little lower first. Like graduating and getting through college first." She replied.

"After my first two years I'll be studying abroad a lot." I answered.

Casey gave me a deadpan stare and said, "You hope to. Ambition is good but if you set the bar too high you may be setting yourself up for failure."

"Okay Miss Pessimist." I replied.

"I'm being realistic okay?" She responded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I answered as we turned around to head home.

**My little corner:** I was hoping to get finished with this chapter earlier today but I ended up having to do yardwork. It was in the sixties today! So nice but I'm ready for December weather since it's you know December, but anyways, yeah I'm just glad that I managed to finish today :)


	6. Chapter 5: Work-Filled Week

_Chapter 5 Work-Filled Week_

I poked my head into Lillian and Cameron's bedrooms to check on them before going to my room for the night. I was glad to see small clouds of gold sand above their heads and knew they would be safe from the nightmares. Mom and dad both were already in bed so I turned off the necessary lights before and closed my bedroom door before going up the stairs. I changed into pajamas but didn't go to bed immediately. Instead I pulled out the onyx necklace, the foreboding feeling returning as I held it in my hand and looked around for a place to hide it until I could figure out my next move on what to do with it.

I chose a place hoping with all hope that it was good enough and settled in bed to read for a little while until I started to get sleepy. I put my book on the nightstand because if I did continue reading I would likely wake up with the book stuck to my face or something, which is always a little funny whenever it does happen, well besides the few times of finding paper cuts on my face.

We didn't have school the entire week and it was probably one of the best weeks ever, but unfortunately when we went back for the last week before break they had squashed the normal four days of exams into two so that we had three days to make up what we had missed over the week of snow. We were all piled with work, teachers, faculty and students alike and probably one of the hardest weeks ever.

Was it worth it? Hell yeah!

Tuesday felt like an entire week of school as I trudged home from the trolley stop and ready to take a nap. I'm pretty sure none of the high school students had gone to bed before midnight last night nor would we until Friday with how much studying and homework we had just to make up (school work wise) for the snow week. And the five days that we would have off for various holidays until Spring/Easter break would have to be made up.

Again, was it worth it? Of course it was and I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that despite the toll it took on school it was definitely worth it.

It was still pretty cold and there was still snow on the ground but over the weekend the city salted, scraped and cleaned the roads and tracks but it looked like the snow would be staying until Christmas. At least my family could get to Boone.

"You look tired. And you have one of those boots on." The familiar voice of my new winter spirit friend commented above me. He was lounging on a light post and picked off a string of Mardi Gras beads and tossing them into the nearest trashcan.

"We're packing a full week of classes and a full week of exams into one to be done before break. And yeah, so no more crutches." I explained.

"Oh, woops." He said a little sheepishly.

I shrugged and said, "Completely worth it and I'm pretty sure everyone else agrees."

"Still, didn't mean to cause problems like that." He replied.

"I know. But it was worth it, we still have snow anyways and we get to finish the semester before break so it's okay." I insisted while stuffing my hands in my pockets and wrapped my hands around the black gem sitting there. I decided it would be better if I kept it with me when outside of my room but ever since doing that I've had some bad luck. Nothing very serious like the first time with a broken ankle but small things like someone with a top locker (I have a bottom locker -.-) accidentally dropping a book on my head, hand or foot or something getting right under my feet and tripping me (more often than usual) or I drop and break something or mess it up. But to be honest I really don't know what to do with the thing to keep it safe until I can figure something else out.

Maybe if Jack knew who Pitch was he could help out...or should I involve him in something that could get him hurt?

_He told you himself that he's a guardian, isn't that his job?_ A part of me questioned.

"Do you know someone named Pitch Black?" I asked before the nerve left me.

His expression darkened slightly when he asked, "Can you describe him?"

"Jet black hair that is smoothed back and sticking out at the back, grayish skin, gold eyes and wears a black robe-like outfit. Has these creepy black horses made of like black sand or something."

"How do you know who that is?" He questioned.

"So you do know him." I stated.

"Yes, but how do you? Only a few kids know who he is." Jack replied.

"He came to me in a dream last week wanting that onyx necklace I found claiming it was his. I'm not sure why he wants it or if the dream was even anything real but the necklace has been giving off bad vibes since finding it but I don't think that whatever he wants it for is good so I've been keeping it safe." I explained. I don't think it's necessary for him to know that Pitch has appeared in my dreams for as long as I can remember but the most recently time keeps bothering me and I really don't know what to do.

"And been causing bad luck too?" Jack questioned.

"It could just be a lapse of bad luck but yeah my luck has gotten noticeably worse since finding the thing." I replied.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" He questioned.

"I was trying to figure things out first and I didn't want to say anything in front of Cameron and Lillian, I don't want to scare them." I replied while dropping my bag off in my room and putting the mail on the counter and heading to their bus stop to pick them up.

"Let me see the necklace." He said. I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it over. He took it and by the look on his face I could tell that he understood what I meant about the bad feeling it gave when holding it.

"I'll take it to North, let him have a look at it

"North?" I asked.

"Also known as Santa Claus; but for now let's have some fun." He said with a smile as Cameron and Lillian stepped off the bus.

"Jack!" They cheered and hugged him.

I smiled and started walking, leading the way home while Cameron and Lillian talked about their school day.

On and off throughout the week Jack would show up to visit but I didn't have much time for anything besides homework and studying. I might as well have been super glued to my desk. By Thursday afternoon Cameron and Lillian were trying to pull me away but all they succeeded in was rolling my chair across the room.

"You guys I'm sorry but I have to study for my last two exams! I swear I would much rather play over studying but I don't want to fail." I said tiredly.

"Come on Nix you at least need a break." Jack argued while lounging on the banister.

"Yeah you haven't done anything but studying all week!" Lillian wined.

"I have a paper to finish and Theory. I'm terrible with Music Theory." I insisted.

"Just one little break please? One snowball fight." Cameron insisted.

I gave Jack a 'please help me' look. He shook his head and said, "No can do, you know where I stand. I'm siding with them."

"Fine just let me finish this paper. Give me thirty minutes." I said and pushed the rail of the banister with my good foot to roll across the hard floor back to my desk and started typing again until I was content with the results of the research paper that had been the bane of my existence since the end of October, printed it off and stuck it in my book bag so I wouldn't forget about it in the morning before getting out of my chair.

"She has gotten off her lazy butt!" Cameron cheered.

"Lazy? Just you wait till your last year of high school mister." I replied and went down the stairs with them and outside into the cold evening. Immediately the snowball fight commenced with Jack starting it, of course he would be the one to start it.

It seems that the three had planned this because it turned into a battle of them verses me, all by myself against my little brother and sister and the spirit of winter weather. Come on really? How is that at all fair? And I'm crippled too!

"Hey this is not fair!" I protested while running around to the backyard and picking up snow on the way and making one snowball after another to retaliate.

"No one said it would be a fair snowball fight." Jack responded, landing in front of me and threw a snowball right in my face. I threw two right back in his and threw one at each of my siblings.

Immediately Cameron latched himself to my legs until I fell down.

"Dog pile!" Lillian announced.

"Don't any of you da-

Immediately all three of them piled on top of me.

"Get off me!" I protested while trying to get up but they put their best efforts into making sure that I could not get up.

"Come on get off of me you crazy people!" I said.

"No! You all are comfy." Lillian said who was at the top of the pile. I twisted my head around to see what the result of this pile was with me on the bottom, Jack, Cameron and then Lillian on top.

"How in the world are we comfortable?" I asked.

"You just are." She replied.

"Well having three people piled on me is not very comfortable so please get off me. I don't like being squashed on the ground." I answered.

"Okay, okay fine." She answered and got up. Cameron and Jack followed suit. I rolled over off my stomach and Jack held out his hand to me. I took it and let him help me up.

"Dog piles are fun." Cameron said with a smile.

"Speak for yourself." I responded.

We all played outside for another hour before going back inside so that Lillian and Cameron could get a bath. I headed back to my room to continue studying while Jack went off to take the onyx necklace to North. I admit I was glad to see it go. I trust Jack to find a safer place for it and this way it couldn't cause more random bad luck, like my head getting injured because my head does not need any more injuries than it already gets.

"Nixie! Cameron and Lillian want to hear some of your stories before bed." My mom called up the stairs.

"Okay." I called back and headed to Lillian's room first because she was completely ready for bed. I sat on her bed and told her whatever stories she wanted to hear. Lillian liked to hear about Astronomy, she loved the stars and her favorite movie is Treasure Planet, even though there were some inaccuracies so I talked to her about stars. Basic things like young and old. I'm not an astronomer but I find it interesting and it was useful for when Lillian wanted to hear about it.

When going to Cameron's room he wanted to hear stories about sports, more specifically all the times I had gotten hurt over the years when learning about the sports that I play. No surprise there, he liked hearing these stories so that he could avoid the mistakes I made. He also liked hearing about different cultures and stories from those cultures. That I could do easily and liked telling him about.

Once both were sleeping peacefully I went back to my room, grabbing something to eat on the way and settled back at my desk to finish studying and made sure to go to bed by ten just like the night before. I did not want to go to an exam as a zombie.

I finished my last exam about an hour early and was allowed to leave. Hell yeah! Immediately I ran out of the school and jumped on the trolley when it came around, heading home. There were very few people on since most schools have yet to let out and there was still another three hours until work hours for most ended.

I noticed a flash of something dark fly past the window. When I looked to see what it was it was gone, but only briefly. It landed in the shadows of an alleyway and low and behold it was one of those freaky nightmare horse things. Immediately I turned away from it, knowing full well that I was the only one who could see it.

Once at home I took an hour long nap being woken up by a freezing cold hand on the back of my neck. I jolted awake with a yelp of protest while slapping the hand away.

"Don't do that! Your hand is freezing!" I snapped at Jack, who was laughing at me.

"You are so mean, I will get you back for that, and the ambush last night." I responded.

"Had to wake you up, your brother and sister will be home soon." He said with a shrug.

"I had an alarm set." I argued and right on cue my alarm started beeping loudly.

He shrugged, not caring and said, "Oh well. My way is funny."

"It's mean that's what it is." I argued while getting out of bed and headed downstairs to put my jacket and boots on; going out the door.

"Are my hands really that cold?" He asked putting a hand to my neck again. I jumped away with a squeal.

"Yes! They're very cold!" I protested while hitting him on the arm.

"Ow."

"That did not hurt." I said rolling my eyes.

"You're right, that was a very pathetic hit." He teased.

"Shall I actually hit you? Like in the face?" I countered with a challenging smirk.

"Uh, no I'm good, I'm afraid you could actually hurt someone if you wanted to." He said holding his hands up in surrender.

I smiled and replied, "I can indeed. But you're my friend so unless you hurt my siblings or something then I'd never hit you that hard."

"And I would never do something to hurt you or your siblings because your my friends." He replied.

"Glad to know we're on the same page." I answered as Cameron and Lillian got off the bus cheering, "Winter Break!"

**Sarah's little moment:** So glad I finished this chapter today I was afraid I would get done today, but thank god I managed to get done!

I don't think there's anything that I can think of to say right now...so yeah...


	7. Chapter 6: Winter Break Begins!

_Chapter 6 Winter Break Begins!_

"Is everyone packed?" My dad called through the house. I was just now finishing up packing, rounding up odds and ins and checking things off my list. I always managed to forget something so last year I had made a list of the things I always bring, including what I had forgotten, and kept it so that I could use it for this year with a few extra things added and started looking for some nice clothes to wear if we went out, one dress shirt was missing though.

"Okay where did you disappear to this time?" I asked aloud while searching through my closet.

"Who are you talking to?"

I jumped, startled and hit my head on the bar, turning to see Lillian standing at the closet door.

"I am talking to a dress shirt that I am looking for. It always gets lost in here somewhere." I explained.

"Oh I thought you were talking to the Boogieman." She answered.

"If the Boogieman ever showed up in my closet I would be an extremely unhappy Nixie." I replied.

"Wouldn't you be scared?" She asked.

"Of course, but then I would swallow it down and try to beat him with the closest object until he leaves." I replied with an overly serious expression making Lillian laugh and say, "You're so funny."

"I try." I replied with a shrug before going back to looking until I found the shirt I was looking for and packed it up, checking it off my list.

"Are you packed?" I asked Lillian.

"Yep! Mommy helped me and Cameron and our stuff is in the car." She responded with a smile and tried to help me pack by pulling out my flip flops and set them on top of my stuff in the suitcase.

"Lil, it's too cold for flip flops. I have shoes and besides I'm finished packing." I said while taking the summer shoes out and closed the suitcase before she could put something else in. I then packed my backpack for when we stopped in Atlanta overnight and inspected, making sure I was completely packed and took my suitcase to my car.

"Are you sure you will be okay driving alone?" Mom asked me while I put my suitcase in the trunk.

"I'll be fine. I drove up there just fine last time when dad rode in the car with me remember?" I replied.

"I know but I still worry." She answered.

"I won't be far from you we're taking the same route anyways and I'll have my phone linked to a headset or something so I can answer hands free if you want to call. I have a map and your GPS. I'll be fine." I insisted.

"I know, I know, but I'm your mother I'm supposed to worry." She answered.

I sighed, there would be no convincing her. I'm pretty sure she'll be calling me nonstop on the drive up. I headed inside and watched Lillian and Cameron play a game until it was time for them to go to bed. As usual I told them stories to get them to fall asleep. This time it didn't take them very long to go to sleep, most of the day they had used up all of their energy in packing and being excited to leave tomorrow.

I went to bed not very long after my parents, we would be getting up pretty early and driving while sleepy is not safe. I changed into pajamas and settled into bed, slowly falling asleep. My dreams were filled with wonderful snow days and ice skating until black cracks in the ice started to form and break the ice apart, there was no water beneath the ice, only darkness. The ice started to fall and break until the only bit left was what I was standing on.

A nightmare lunged at me and knocked me right off the ice causing me to fall into darkness.

I couldn't tell if I had stopped falling or not. There was only darkness, nothingness until the familiar smooth, British accented voice of Pitch cut through the silence like a hot knife.

"It's no use hiding the stone from me. I will get it from you." He said, the voice coming from all directions, completely surrounding me. I couldn't speak, my voice wouldn't work and my body refused to move. I had no sense of direction or time. I could have still been falling or I could have been floating in one place.

_I'm not afraid of you anymore._ I thought. It seems that he heard that because he gave a soft but cruel laugh and responded, "I wouldn't bet on that because I am coming for you my dear. You will give that stone back to me and now that I know that you still believe in me we can have fun once again with taking a little bit of fear to turn every last little dream of yours into your worst nightmares."

_Leave me alone!_

"Oh but you're just too much fun. I think I'll let my fearlings haunt you while awake as well and give you some time to reconsider returning my stone to me." He replied, I could imagine the cruel smile on his face. I swallowed down the large lump of fear, there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he did still scare me.

"Nix! Hey Nix wake up!" A Freezing cold hand placed itself on the back of my neck. I practically jumped out of my skin, both from the cold and being startled and let out a yelp, "Cold!"

"What kind of dream were you having? Geez your alarm has been going off for the past ten minutes and you still wouldn't wake up. You know you're really warm and you look kind of sweaty. Were you having a bad dream?" Jack inquired. I allowed my breathing to slow down before asking a question of my own, "Is that necklace safe?"

He blinked in surprise and replied, "Yes."

"Good." I responded, relieved.

"Why do you ask?" He asked.

"Just had a dream about it." I replied vaguely. If the necklace was safe then there was nothing to worry about.

"Is that why you were having problems waking up?" He questioned with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah I guess so." I responded and checked the time while getting out of bed.

"Thanks for waking me up. Is there something you came here for?" I asked.

"No just finding out when you'll be leaving." He responded.

"In a little over an hour." I answered while pulling out a change of clothes, shooing him out while I took a shower and finished getting ready. When I got out it was six. We would be leaving in about thirty minutes.

On and off during the drive Jack would appear in the passenger seat and change a song I was listening to or look through my ipod and the papers in the glove compartment, generally just being nosy.

"There is absolutely nothing interesting in the glove compartment I assure you Snow Cap." I said after about five minutes of him rifling through it.

"Why do you call me Snow Cap?" He asked.

"Why do you call me Nix?" I countered.

"Touché." He replied.

"If you're bored then why don't you go see your other friends? Like that kid Jamie you've told me about." I suggested. I didn't have a problem with Jack sitting in the car with me but he seemed bored and a guy like Jack doesn't handle boredom well, often times it could mean them playing pranks or wrecking havoc on their friends or something insane like that.

"He's busy today, going to visit family." Jack replied.

"Oh okay. Then how about a car ride game?" I suggested.

"Are any of them fun?" He questioned.

"Some can be, depending on what you play and the minds of those playing it. There are other games that can be played in the car too like the coin machine game and some other games like that." I explained.

"The coin machine game?" He questioned.

"I say that I entered a coin into the machine and you tell me what I got and then insert a coin and I tell you what you got." I replied.

"What other games?" He asked.

"There is one I like called Green Glass Door and there's Man or Monster and a game where one person says a word and the next person has to say a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word. For example the first word is 'playstation' and the word next would be..."

"Noon." He answered.

"Nullify."

"Yeti." He replied.

We continued with that game for a little while until we both became bored with it and played other word, riddle, and car games. My mom called me at around nine to let me know that they wanted to stop for breakfast and told me where we planned to go.

Most of the ride Jack would pop in and out, after lunch we had managed to convince mom and dad to allow Lillian and Cameron to ride with me for the rest of the day and they seemed to really enjoy it. I had fun myself but couldn't participate in the games as much so that I could keep my main focus on the driving.

After dinner Jack headed off, needing to see Santa, er sorry, North, for one reason or another. It wasn't until about midnight that we made it to the hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Dad walked over to my car and picked Cameron up while I got Lillian. Both had long ago fallen asleep and did not wake up once as we went to the rooms and tucked them in. We then went to bed ourselves, all crashing completely.

My night was filled with bad dreams, many more than usual although this didn't surprise me much it was still unpleasant all the same.

The drive on through the rest of Georgia, South Carolina and part of North Carolina wasn't very different from yesterday, lost of silly games and laughing but Jack was around less than yesterday, and he seemed a little distracted or worried about something. Of course I could be wrong, however I found it very unlikely when it came to something like this.

We finally got to the mountain house right after dinner. Cameron and Lillian watched TV after settling in the room the two of them shared here while mom and dad both went straight to bed, leaving me to tuck the two in when they got tired.

I went to my room right next to theirs and sat up in bed surfing the internet out of boredom. I wasn't ready to try and sleep yet. On and off the past two days of driving I would notice those creepy nightmares at random times of the day and varying places. I was sure that I would have nightmares again tonight so I wasn't very keen on falling asleep, but soon it started to grip at my brain and drag me into the depths of unconsciousness.

"Wake up Nixie." A chillingly familiar voice said with a smooth tone. The voice immediately woke me up but I did not want to open my eyes. I stayed still hoping that it was just my imagination, or a nightmare. A normal bad dream would be better than him showing up while awake, him waking me up would be even worse.

_Just my imagination. Just a bad dream._ I repeated in my mind and pinched my hand hard to make sure I was indeed awake.

_Just my imagination._ I told myself.

"I know you're awake." The voice of Pitch repeated.

_Damn it, neither asleep nor imagining it._ I thought sourly and sat up, turning to face him.

"What do you want?" I asked, keeping my tone steady even if one of my worst fears had come to life.

"That necklace." He answered.

"It's not here." I replied.

"Lying will do you no good." He responded giving me a cold glare.

"I'm not lying. It isn't here." I insisted.

"So you left it at home did you?" He questioned.

"No. I got rid of it." I answered, in a way that was true.

He took a step closer. Instinctively I backed up, forgetting that this bed was a single bed and I had no wall next to me so I fell to the floor, the bulky boot holding my broken ankle making a dull THUD on the floor. I quickly got to my feet.

He stared directly into my eyes, searching for lies most likely and asked, "Then where is it?" He took another step forward. I took one back but wasn't able to look away from his eyes. They were a pale gold, almost transparent-like and beautiful to be completely honest.

"Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you." I replied. I tried to break the contact though it was proving to be much more difficult than I had thought.

He took a few more steps forward and I took a few more steps back until I had stupidly backed myself into the corner. Even completely awake I did stupid things like that.

"You still fear me. No matter how much you try to deny it." He said with a sinister smile.

"Oh yeah because instinctively wanting to keep some distance is a sure sign of fear." I replied sarcastically.

In two swift steps he was right in front of me. My heartbeat quickened in response and raced about a million miles a minute when he reached out his hand and placed two fingers at my neck where the pulse was. His touch was cool, not like Jack's which was more like the Winter wind on a snow day. Pitch's touch was cool like stepping into a cave or the cool air of nighttime but also paralyzed me, not literally, just fear gripping me and keeping my muscles from reacting.

"Your eyes and heartbeat say otherwise. So how about making this easier on yourself and telling me where that stone is hm?" He asked in a silky cool tone.

**My little break time:** I was worried that I wouldn't finish this chapter today (although it'll end up getting posted after midnight) but by definition I finished today (Dec. 3) so there!

Not really sure what else to say so yeah, I'm going to bed, goodnight all!


	8. Chapter 7: Meeting the Guardians

_Chapter 7 Meeting the Guardians_

"Like I said before, e-even if I knew I wouldn't tell you." I answered, regaining focus and control over my limbs and quickly side-stepped away from him.

"You handed it off to Jack Frost didn't you?" He suddenly demanded.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"You are friends are you not?" Pitch questioned.

"How would you know that?" I asked nervously.

"My nightmares have seen him around you a lot lately." He explained.

"Oh so because your creepy horse things have been stalking me." I said in blatant understanding.

"Where did Frost hide it?" Pitch asked.

"Why are you so keen on getting that stone? Bad luck and fear are two different things." I inquired.

"But using enough bad luck can create fear in others quickly. So where is it hidden?" He questioned.

"Okay you have a really bad listening problem. I don't know where it is, how many times do I have to tell you that?" I demanded, becoming annoyed now.

The window burst open and a stream of black shadowy sand flooded the room and surrounded me.

"Nixie! What was that noise? Are you okay?" Mom called through the door. Pitch gave me a threatening expression, the message was clear, give anything away and bad things would happen. Yeah like I was ever going to tell my parents anything, they never believed me before, they wouldn't now. I gave my own expression that clearly said, 'You think I'm that stupid?' and rolled my eyes.

"I'm fine, the window just blew open. I guess I didn't lock it all the way!" I called back.

"Well make sure you do this time." She responded.

"I will." I answered giving Pitch a, 'That was your fault' expression but withered under the glare he gave in return and unconsciously stepped back; backing up right into a nightmare that knocked me down.

"You know something. What did Frost do with the stone? I'm becoming bored with this and your stubborn attitude is no longer funny." He said stepping forward and glaring down at me.

I sat up and backed away from him before standing but did not answer, only held eye contact and kept the fear at bay.

"Alright, maybe your little brother and sister know. Shall I go ask them?"

"No. Leave them out of this; they don't even know that I got rid of it." I jutted in quickly.

"Protective of them hm? You asked Sandy to watch over them haven't you? But that is only while they're asleep. I wouldn't be surprised if they could see me and the nightmares as well though."

"Stay away from them." I snapped. I did not want someone like him anywhere near Lillian and Cameron. There is no way I am going to let him corrupt their childhood the way he had mine.

The window opened again and immediately the nightmares swooped out of the room revealing the oddest group of people I have ever seen. Jack and Sandy with who I could only guess were Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

"I'll be back." Pitch hissed before disappearing with the nightmares.

"Are you okay shiela?" The bunny asked in a thick Australian accent, something I wasn't expecting to hear. I just stood there, allowing my mind to comprehend the fact that the ultimate childhood heroes were standing here before me together. I backed up to my bed and sat down saying, "Y-yeah. Just let me wrap my mind around this."

"But you can see them, you believe." Jack responded.

"It's more of the fact that the ultimate childhood heroes are together knowing each other and standing here in my room. I mean damn, just let my brain catch up, it's still comprehending all the nightmares that were here just a few seconds ago." I replied.

"Your dad is a dentist right? Open up I want to see how your adult teeth are doing! Your baby teeth were always so white and clean like your brother and sister's are!" The Tooth Fairy said excitedly, flying up to me and help my mouth open for her to see.

"Are you on drugs? You're really perky for someone who works all night." I questioned, trying to pull away from her.

"Tooth, let go of her face, ask first." Santa Claus, or North, said in a thick Russian accent, which wasn't as big of a surprise to me.

"Sorry. Still taking this all in I see. I mean meeting Pitch in person and all of us is probably overwhelming." She said apologetically and backed off.

"Well yeah just a little bit." I answered as my mind slowly started to wrap around the current situation.

"Okay, I'm okay now." I replied.

"Was he looking for the stone?" North questioned.

"Yeah, but all he knows now is that I gave it to Jack." I explained.

"So we got here before he could have figured anything else out." He responded.

I just nodded, becoming very tired again. I closed the window because it was getting cold fast. After a few minutes the door cracked open with Lillian and Cameron poking their heads into the room.

"Nixie? We heard you talking to someone and a fall. Are you okay?" Cameron questioned as they opened the door further. They smiled and said, "Jack!" They ran to him and gave him a hug. He smiled and hugged them back. Then they noticed North, Tooth, Sandy and the Easter Bunny and their eyes turned to saucers.

"What are all of you doing here? You all know each other?" Lillian asked.

"Eh, yes. We came to help your sister out of a pinch." Tooth said with a smile. Behind my siblings backs I made motions and mouthed, 'Don't tell them!'

"What happened?" Cameron asked turning to look at me. I immediately stopped when he turned around.

"Um, nothing to worry about really but you know those creatures I told you about? Those ones that I see sometimes?" I asked. They nodded.

"Well one of them appeared here a little bit ago and scared me. I suppose they were all nearby for one reason or another and helped out." I explained.

"Oh. So what are Santa and the Easter Bunny doing here?" Lillian questioned.

"Ah, guardian business, we're the Guardians of Childhood and sometimes have to work together at times." North explained.

"Wow! That is so cool!" Cameron exclaimed a little too loudly.

"Cameron, you don't want to wake mom and dad up." I whispered. He nodded and put his hands over his mouth. Lillian followed suit.

"Come on let's get you two back in bed." I said while taking their hands.

"Why don't you help her Sandy?" The Bunny said so Sandy followed us to their room. I tucked them in and he put them to sleep with a simple touch to the head.

"Thanks." I said before going back to my room with him.

"Why do you not want them to know? They have a right to know when their older sister is in trouble." Jack asked.

"They don't need to worry about me, they're six they shouldn't have worries besides the fears they are taught to either ignore or overcome. So just don't tell them okay? They don't need to know." I responded.

"Fine then." He said with a shrug.

"So we kind of missed introductions, I'm Nixie." I said with a wave.

"You already know Jack and Sandy. I am North, that is Tooth and Bunnymund." North introduced.

"Nice to meet you all and thanks again for the help." I replied.

"We should go so she can get back to sleep." Bunnymund said.

"I'm sure you guys are all busy. It was nice meeting you al." I said with a wave as they headed out. I put my slippers and robe on, going into the living room. I was no longer tired and I don't think I would be able to fall asleep even if I tried so a movie and hot chocolate was calling my name.

"Aren't you going back to sleep?" Jack asked, noticing that I was putting my slippers on.

"After that? no way I won't be able to sleep even if I tried, hot chocolate and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is calling my name." I answered.

"The what?" He asked.

"It's a movie. Claymation, musical kind of movie about the King of Halloween wanting to innocently take over Christmas." I explained.

"How do you innocently take over Christmas?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Well he has no ill intentions and wanting to give Santa a vacation but because he nor the rest of the residences of Halloween town understand Christmas very well it all goes wrong." I tried to explain, it was one of those movies that you would have to see to actually understand.

"Mind if I join you? This sounds like an entertaining movie." He asked.

"I think it would be for you, it has a very different take on some people you know." I responded and headed out of the room with him following behind. I put a pot of water on the stove to heat up before putting the movie in and sat on the couch next to Jack and pressed 'play.'

It seems that I was right, Jack did find the movie entertaining as he made comments and laughed at the take on Santa, the Eater Bunny and Oogie Boogie especially. After meeting them all for myself and knowing that Pitch is the Boogieman I understood and made jokes along with him quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up. A little over halfway through the movie I ended up falling asleep. How that happened I don't know because I don't remember being sleepy at all or falling asleep. One moment I was making jokes about the idea of Pitch singing Oggie Boogie's song (I think it would be hilarious to see) and then the next I was waking up in my own bed.

I sat up, hopelessly confused and decided to ask Jack about it the next time I saw him and went to the living room. The movie was in its box and sitting on top of the DVD player. I saw snowballs being thrown outside and went out to the porch to see Cameron, Jack and Lillian having a snowball fight.

"Nixie is up! Get her!" Cameron declared when he noticed me.

_Like hell, I'm still in my pajamas!_ I thought and quickly ran inside and closed the glass door as three or four snowballs hit it. I stuck my tongue out at them before going to my room to get dressed and put the rubber cover over my cased foot and then the boot before putting the snow boot on my other foot and headed outside, but sneaking out the backdoor after making sure the three were still in the front yard. I made three snowballs and climbed up to the roof, clearing a space to sit and making several more before throwing them at my siblings and friend below.

At first they were confused until Lillian looked up at me.

"Nixie is on the roof throwing them." She called to Jack and Cameron. Jack flew right up to the roof with a snowball and got one to the face right as he threw it and hit me in the face.

Lillian and Cameron laughed. I couldn't help but laugh too I mean we simultaneously hit each other in the face with our snowball. I decided to play fair and started to scoot to the edge of the roof, but slipped and lost my footing. Before I actually fell Jack caught me and put me on the ground.

"Thanks for that." I said.

"No problem." He answered and smashed a snowball on my head and put my hat on top of it. I gave him a 'not amused' look and said sarcastically, "Thank you so much for that. That is exactly what I needed."

I shook the snow out of my hair and out of my hat before putting it back on.

"How did I get from watching the movie to waking up in my bed?" I asked him.

"Sandy put you to sleep, I put you in your room. Just dumped you onto the bed." Jack replied.

"Well aren't you nice just dumping people onto their beds. I'm surprised I didn't fall onto the floor and you just drop a blanket and pillow on me." I replied.

"That's happened before with a little girl a few years ago, my friend Jamie's little sister." He replied.

"You let a little girl fall out of bed onto the floor and you just dropped a blanket and pillow on her? Little girls are not heavy how hard is it to just set them down onto their beds?" I asked, appalled.

"It was an accident and she was okay. I gave her one of her toys too." He said holding his hands up in defense. I couldn't help but laugh, trying to imagine such a scene.

Later after lunch mom, Lillian and I had some girl time and went ice skating and shopping together. Mom was scared of letting me ice skate on one foot but after a little while she accepted that I wasn't having a problem.

I finished up Christmas shopping for those left, Cameron, dad and Jack but was having a hard time with that. I'm the kind of person who tries to get people something that will both like but also find useful and let's be honest I'm a girl, yes I have some male friends a brother and a dad but ultimately there are still things about boys that I will never understand even if I grew up with ten boys. I could easily find something that a girl I know would like and use but when it came to boys I can find something that they might like or something different that they can use, but not both. Luckily I know Cameron well so it wasn't as hard and mom helped me out in figuring out what I should get for dad. The real problem was my new Guardian of fun friend.

Jack.

I had no clue what to get that boy. Since he roams around a lot it would have to be something that he could carry around without a hassle and because he roams around he rarely seems bored. He can even freely go to the North's toy factory. What in the heck do you get for a male friend like Jack?

Lillian was just as clueless as I was, and she was usually pretty good at thinking of the obvious solution.

**My little end of the chapter message:** I had originally wanted to finish this chapter last night but I was getting super sleepy and I remembered that the next morning was Wednesday and I have an 8 o'clock class this day and I was only about halfway done with the chapter so that wasn't happening and I feel bad about it coming out this late because I should have finished it hours ago so I wouldn't allow my sister to edit because she is slow and I wanted to post it so there may be some mistakes. But yeah here it is and neither of us could think of something that would be good for Jack so if anyone has idea that would help Nixie out that would be fucking fantastic. If anyone has ideas they would like to pitch (haha Pitch, anyways DISTRACTION) then I am open to reading them, I generally have what I want in my mind but ideas from readers are always fun to read and use as well :)


	9. Chapter 8: A Visitor on Christmas Eve

_Chapter 8 A Visitor on Christmas Eve_

Christmas was approaching fast and we didn't see much of Jack, he had mentioned helping North with some last minute preparations for Christmas so we weren't really surprised.

About a week before Christmas Lillian, Cameron and I went out shopping, trying to find something that Jack might like for Christmas and Cameron helped a lot. Although unfortunately for Lillian and I, whom is quickly picking up my shopping style of wanting to get people something useful as well as enjoyable, what we found would not likely be useful on a serious level, just on a fun, which in retrospect would be perfect for the winter sprit Guardian of Fun.

As soon as we got back to the house the three of us sat on the floor in their room and started to wrap presents and set them to the side, we started wrapping Jack's presents last and of course our timing was terrible, or Jack's was good (whichever you prefer) because I noticed him outside the window and knocked.

"Yeep! Hide them, Nixie keep him out of the room while we hide them!" Lillian said as the two scrambled to make sure Jack couldn't see while I did sort of hop-skip over them to the widow.

I opened the window, climbed out and stood on the ledge that was wide enough to sit on and closed the curtains and window behind me.

"H-hi Jack you really have...some timing you know that. Sorry about that we're working on a project that no one can see yet so let's just go to my room while they finish that up." I suggested nervously. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Cameron opened the window and curtains a little bit and whispered in my ear, "You have to sign your card."

"I'll do it later, just leave it with my thing and give it to me later to finish." I whispered back. He nodded and closed the window and curtains again.

"Eh, he, he, he. Sorry, they'll be out of their room in a few minutes." I said and scooted over to my room and opened the window, climbing in and let Jack in.

"What kind of project?" Jack questioned.

"Um, you'll find out later. Like in a week." I responded.

"Why a week?" He asked.

"Because that's when you'll see it that's why." I answered. Jack thought about it and said, "Christmas is in a week though."

"Are you helping North?" I asked.

"Yeah, well up until the evening on Christmas." He explained.

"Well if you have the time would you mind stopping by for, like, two seconds that day?" I asked.

He was still suspicious and asked, "Why is important to see this project on that day?"

_Oh Jack since when are you this slow?_ I wondered right as Cameron burst in, "Okay it's safe his presents are wrapped up and hidden."

I face palmed myself hard.

"I was trying to keep it a secret and surprise him." I said to Cameron.

"Oh, woops." He said sheepishly.

"You blurt it out? We told you it was going to be a surprise!" Lillian shouted from their room and raced after Cameron through the house.

"Save me from the crazy Lillian!" Cameron shouted. I grabbed Lillian around the waist and lifted her up off the ground.

"Calm down, if your still mad about it then remember your a girl you can hold on to your anger forever." I said to her.

"Okay. So in ten years I'll hit him for it and tell him why." She declared.

"Not that long, try one month at the max." I answered.

"Right." She said in understanding.

Jack just stood there with an amused smirk, watching the scene and said, "You really shouldn't teach her things like holding grudges."

"I never said holding a grudge, that is holding hostile anger and always using it. Girls can hold onto their anger, as in put it to the side until they day they use it." I explained.

"Still doesn't sound very healthy. Holding in anger like that so it can build up." He remarked skeptically.

"Oh we let it out with friends, we rant and rave and plot when we need to. It's better than when girls get angry with each other." I replied with a shrug.

"Yeah that fight you got into last year with Candace was scary. You can be scary, like a bear or something." Cameron commented.

"I can't imagine you fighting anyone. So why would you get me something for Christmas?" He asked.

"You're our friend silly. We wanted to and we do if we can." Lillian said in a 'duh' tone.

"You give gifts to all your friends?" He asked.

"No, only family and you and Nixie got something for Casey, her best friend, but that's it." Cameron replied.

"Casey isn't my best friend. She's a very good friend and I love her to death but best friend, to both of us, implies that you can tell each other everything. There are many things that she doesn't know about me and I don't know about her." I explained. We had been questioned on that before and we both had explained it, but it seems that we are the only two people I know who agree and equally establish such a friendship. If I were to consider anyone a best friend it would likely end up being Jack, of course there was still a lot about him that I didn't know so I don't.

"Then who's your best friend?" Lillian questioned.

"I don't have one." I replied.

"Oh, okay then." She answered in understanding.

"So I'm guessing you've been busy helping North lately?" I asked Jack.

"More or less. Not to mention the fact that it is Winter." He replied.

"Weather-wise it is. But according to the calendar it's not Winter until December 21." I responded. He waved it off and said, "Who cares about the calendar?"

"Clearly you don't." She answered with a smile while putting Lillian down.

"Let's play a game! Let's play hide and seek! Mommy and daddy aren't home so we don't have to worry about them being in the way!" She declared.

"One, two, three, not it!" Jack said quickly.

"Not it!" Cameron and Lillian yelled.

"Guess I'm 'it.' You all better go hide and please no hiding in places that people can't get to-Jack. Because some of us can't fly or have any special powers so no hiding in places like the chimney-Jack-or on the ceiling of a closet where someone can't reach you-Jack." I replied. Jack gave an overly innocent smile and said, "What makes you think I would be so mean as to do a thing like that?"

I gave him a 'are you serious?' sort of expression and said, "The couch is base. No more outside than the front or back porches, no attic or roof, other than the other guidelines I said earlier anything else goes short of messing or damaging anything." Then I sat on the couch, put a pillow over my face so they knew I wasn't looking and started to count. When I finished no one was in sight of course but I knew where Lillian and Cameron were but made a show about not being able to find them for a little while and let them get to base.

"Aw man. Guess there's just Jack left. I bet he's cheating." I commented while they laughed. I went to find Jack, checking all of the places he could cheat and then thought of something that I would do if not for my ankle and checked under the dining room table and looked up, literally under it and found him pressed against the underside of the table.

"Hey look you didn't cheat." I said with an approving smile.

"Told you I wouldn't." He countered with a playful grin.

"You're it." I said and tagged him and walked back to the living room.

"You found him!" Lillian cheered.

"Go get hiding or I'll cut the counting time shorter." Jack said as he walked over to the couch and started to count. Cameron and Lillian ran off to hide. I walked to my room and to the closet and pulled myself up to the top shelf, hiding among the extra pillows and blankets that were there and stayed that way, listening as Jack found Lillian and Cameron and started looking for me.

"Where do you two think Nix is hiding?" Jack asked Cameron and Lillian.

"Well if not for her ankle she would probably be under the table the way you were so if I had to guess I would say the top shelf of a closet or something. Gymnastics does that, you can pull yourself up a tree with broken legs as long as you can grab a hold of something." Lillian replied, I could practically see her matter-of-fact expression and shrugging.

Almost immediately the closet door opened and Jack looked up and moved stuff to the side until he spotted me.

"Salut." I said with a wave and let my legs hang off the side of the shelf and indicated for him to move before jumping down, making sure I landed on my good foot.

"We're back!" Mom called through the house.

"Guess the game is over." I said.

"I should go anyways, I promised Jamie I would visit him too when I had time." Jack replied.

"You'll be back for Christmas right?" Cameron asked.

Jack ruffled his hair and said, "Of course." He then went out the window and let the wind carry him off.

On Christmas even, at about nine I noticed Lillian and Cameron sitting on the couch staring at the fireplace. They had already set out the cookies and milk and were now waiting.

"You know Santa knows when you're awake and he won't come if you are." I said to them.

"But we wanna see him again." They wined.

"I'm sure you will someday but for now it's past your bedtime so come on off to bed." I said to them and picked them up off the couch, carrying them off to their room to tuck them in. Mom and dad both went to bed early knowing that Lillian and Cameron were going to be waking them up early.

I decided to go on a walk, which in retrospect is a little stupid but I know the neighborhood well, not that I thought about the dangers, or lack there of, in this area when I left to go on my walk and it wasn't very late either.

I wandered up the steep hill on the street beside one of the ski slopes. Even with the boot I still needed the crutches because of the slope of the mountain being too steep most of the time. We were lucky to have some flat yard at the house but everywhere else houses were stuck in the side of the mountain with very little yard that didn't have boulders or hills.

I stopped to take a break at a bridge that sat over a large creek and ended at the grass next to one of the slopes. The lights that usually lit up the slope for nighttime skiing were out, of course the place would be closed on Christmas Eve. I leaned against the rail and watched the water below cascade over the rocks. Some patches were frozen on rocks that stuck out of the water, it was so pretty that I had to take a picture. No I am not one of those annoying people that take pictures all the time, only of plants, animals and landscapes when the opportunity provides itself.

Considering the fact that you never know when you'll find a good picture (codak) moment I've gotten into the habit of carrying it around. I checked the picture to notice that the flash had caused the ice to shimmer, it was really cool but I also wanted a regular, natural one of the water and the rocks and tied again at a different angle so that, hopefully the flash wouldn't make any changes besides providing light. When I checked the new picture all I saw was, what appeared to be black sand and shadows.

Immediately I backed away from the rail and stopped when I walked into something that shouldn't have been there. I whirled around and stumbled, catching myself on the rail behind me. There weren't many street lights around and the few that were immediately started to go black, not that it mattered, Pitch blended in with the darkness easily. I could only make out his gray skin and gold eyes.

I felt something that was cool, like mist, gather at my feet and looked down to see curls and swirls of darkness start to snake it's way around my feet and ankles. I pulled my foot back but it wouldn't let go, wrapping around my ankle tighter and pulling it back.

I tried my other foot and the darkness pulled back with a viscous yank on my broken ankle. I took in a sharp breath in response to the pain and stopped trying to free it.

"Good evening Nixie." Pitch said pleasantly.

**It is moi:** Hello all! Sorry for the late update (I meant to update yesterday) but here is chapter 8! Yay! I did indeed post this without having my editor review it because I do what I want :p I do have ideas for Jack's gifts but if anyone has any ideas I welcome them and will likely use them over my own. If anyone has any random ideas they would like to share that is welcome as well!

Well I am off to go see Rise of the Guardians for the second time, maybe seeing it again will help me think of something :)


	10. Chapter 9: Mind Invasion

_Chapter 9 Mind Invasion_

"Are you here about that stone again?" I questioned while trying to reach my crutches, maybe I could hit him in the head with one? Of course I know that it would only piss him off but maybe it'll surprise him long enough for a chance of escape.

"Partly." He responded.

The darkness curled further up my legs as black sand started to make the shape of nightmares all around. Some were heading off down the street while a few others hung around with menacing looks. I tried moving again but the darkness wouldn't allow it as it curled up to my waist. How the heck is it that this intangible substance can do something like this? What kind of darkness is this?

"Ja-

I was cut-off in mid yell, about to yell for Jack's help, him being the first guardian that comes to mind since I've only met the other four once, but Pitch's hand clamped over my mouth. I reached up to shove him away but the darkness had wrapped around my arms holding them back. I twisted and pulled but was having no luck at any kind of escape.

"It's quite foolish of you to have come out here, especially on the night when two of the Guardians are busiest, but it is very lucky for me. Now hold still, this will only hurt a little." He said while placing his other hand, which had tendrils of darkness lingering around it, at the left side of my face and head as the darkness spread across my face and into my eyes. Hurting a little was an understatement. Something shoving it's way under your eyelids and through your pupils into your head was probably the most unpleasant feeling I've ever experienced and it may not have been the most painful, but it still hurt a lot and was inflicting a massive headache with it. It spread through my mind feeling like lead spreading and expanding.

Immediately scenes and images started to flash before my eyes and I had a feeling that Pitch could see them too. Clearly he was looking for something and after several more memories flashed by one stopped. The day I gave Jack the onyx while we waited for Cameron and Lillian's bus.

I tried to pull away but couldn't move at all. The darkness had a firm hold on my body and was not letting go. The more I fought the tighter the tendrils wrapped around me, casing me to yelp in pain that was muffled by Pitch's cold gray hand.

_"Let me see the necklace." Jack said. I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it over. He took it and by the look on his face I could tell that he understood what I meant about the bad feeling it gave when holding it._

_ "I'll take it to North, let him have a look at it."_

_ "North?" I asked._

_ "Also known as Santa Claus; but for now let's have some fun." He said with a smile as Cameron and Lillian stepped off the bus._

Pitch pulled his hand away, yanking the darkness from my mind. I didn't realize what kind of effect it was having on my mind until it was pulled out. It felt like lead had been pulled from my head, my mind felt lighter and less painful as it started to subside and turn into a dull throb. I was nauseous, dizzy and exhausted. The darkness released me and let me fall to my hands and knees, which could barely support me like that.

"Sorry about that, the side effects can be severe since it uses your own energy." Pitch commented, not that he actually sounded sorry.

"Clearly." I breathed out while trying to steady my breathing. My arms started to shake with the effort of keeping myself upright so I forced myself to get up into a standing position, using the rail for support.

"I thank you for the useful information, with North and Jack away from the pole I should have no problem in retrieving the stone. But of course I can't have you warning them since they will be at your house soon enough." He said and suddenly there was just black until I fell into a cage that slammed shut and locked.

"Ow." I hissed while rubbing the back of my head where I had hit the bars and looked around. The cage was not really any different than a large birdcage, although it was more rusted-looking. I looked outside of the cage to find many more just like the one I was in hanging all over the large cavernous room. All around there were stairs and walkways cut into the walls at different angles, almost like that famous painting 'Relativity' without the upside down. Below was a globe of the world with gold lights all over it.

Floating around here and there were some of the nightmares, much calmer than usual so they were kind of cute like regular horses but I knew how frightening they could be.

There was one thing that made no sense to me, _Why would Pitch want so many cages?_

It was one thing having about a quarter the amount there are now for taking prisoners but there were too many to count. Hundreds of cages hanging all around like a prison, a prison that used bird cages. I couldn't help but laugh at the image of a plethora of giant evil birds being imprisoned here.

A nightmare immediately charged at the cage with an fearsome angry whinny. I scrambled away from it and said, "Okay, not laughing, chill out."

Pitch let out a soft laugh that easily echoed through the room and sounded like it was coming from one direction but he appeared on the other side of the room.

"I should tell you about one little mistake you made." I said.

"And what would that be?" He asked mockingly.

"At whatever time that Jack and North show up at the house, if they decide to check on all of us it will be apparent that I am not there, not very surprising but I did leave a note saying when I planned to be back. So they will know that something is up." I explained. He scowled but it immediately changed back to his calm expression and said, "It doesn't matter, by the time they reach your house I will be at the Pole. See you later."

He disappeared as did most of the nightmares. The rest stayed behind. What? Do they expect me to try and escape? The cage is hanging at least fifty feet off the ground so no survival there and it was hanging too far from others for me to jump to the lower ones not to mention the broken ankle and lack of energy from the mind being invaded and probed.

At around eleven at night the sleigh landed on the roof of the West mountain house. Jack was the first to go down with North right behind. He considered waking up Cameron and Lillian so they could see North again but Nix would probably kill him because they would never get back to sleep so instead he went to wake Nixie up but immediately noticed that her room was empty and Nixie's pajamas were still laid out.

He wandered back to the living room and noticed a note stuck to the wall for their parents reading, _Gone on a walk, should be back no later than ten. Love, Nixie_

No later than ten meant that if she wasn't back yet then something was wrong.

"Didn't you go to wake up Nixie?" North asked quietly.

"She went on a walk and didn't plan on being back any later than ten." Jack replied.

"Something's wrong. Why don't you go look for her, I'll go on, thanks for the help." North said before flying back up the chimney. Jack followed but flew off looking for his friend and noticed that some of the streetlights up the hill were out, in fact all of them in that area were so he flew over to investigate. It was very dark but he could see okay and almost missed them but noticed a pair of crutches on a bridge that sat over a large creek that separated the neighborhood from the ski slope.

He landed on the bridge and picked them up knowing that they were Nixie's by the blue handles, and the fact that no one else with houses around were here over Christmas, especially not someone with a broken body part.

He found remnants of black sand on the ground as well.

_Why would Pitch kidnap Nixie if he just wanted to know where that stone was?_ He wondered before taking off to find Sandy who would likely be the closest. He followed the dream sand until he saw a small island in the sky made of golden sand.

"Sandy!" He called to get the little man's attention who turned with a smile and waved but noticed Jack's worried expression and a question mark appeared above his head.

"You remember Nixie right?" Jack asked. Sandy nodded.

"Pitch kidnapped her." He answered. Another question mark appeared with a worried expression. Sure Pitch had fun in using fear but even for Pitch kidnapping is different.

"I don't know why. But I need to find her before morning." Jack admitted.

A shape of the onyx necklace appeared above Sandy's head.

"What about the stone?" Jack asked.

A replica of North's toy factory appeared.

"Yes the stone is safe there." Jack said, Sandy shook his head and made a replica of Pitch, then the stone and then the North Pole.

"Pitch going after the stone at the North Pole?" Jack guessed and got a nod in response.

"But he doesn't know where it i- Oh wait, Nix knew I was taking it to North. If Pitch got it out of her that I handed it off to North then he would know where it was, and North isn't even there and the Yetis may not be able to keep him out for very long. This is bad." He said. The image of a rabbit and an egg appeared of Sandy's head.

"Bunnymund? Can you find him and tell him to get to the Pole? I'll go on ahead." Jack asked. Sandy nodded and flew off. Jack flew off towards the Pole.

My eyes started to feel heavy and the itchy, burning sensation that comes with sleep trying to overcome the body. I shook my head violently to stay awake. There was no way I was going to allow myself to fall asleep in a giant birdcage in Pitch's lair. I decided that I was never going to have a pet bird. I was feeling too much like one and did not like it in the least. Once I had enough strength I stood and walked around the cage and looking around the cavernous place to try and find some way of escape before Pitch returned but the walking around only confirmed my earlier observation. I am simply a human and even with my gymnastics abilities there was no way I could get out safely.

After what felt like hours, which was only no more than one hour, Pitch reappeared, but was in the middle of a fight and trying to pull Jack off of him. Jack was hanging on to Pitch by the neck and trying to wrestle something from him, which I could only assume was the onyx necklace. Bunnymund hopped out of a hole and was holding off the fearlings.

Immediately I burst out laughing at the scene of Jack and Pitch wrestling for the stone. I couldn't help it, it was just too funny and instinctively I pulled out my camera and put it on the video feature to film it. Hell I had nothing else to do stuck in here might as well make the most of the situation right? And honestly how many other people could say that they've videotaped Jack Frost and the Boogieman fighting like this? I don't think any of the spirits or Guardians could either.

"Nixie?" Bunnymund called.

"Up here." I said and waved my arm around so he could see from below. There was a clanging from cage hopping I guess until he grabbed onto mine and asked, "What're you doing shiela?"

"Hey being stuck in a giant creepy cage doesn't give you much to do and their fight is funny as hell so don't judge." I responded and stopped the camera, putting it back into my coat pocket while Bunnymund opened the door. Hesitantly I walked over to it, gripping the bars at the side I looked down to get a better view of how far down it actually was. I was wrong, it wasn't fifty feet, more like seventy.

"Come on. We need ta get you outta here." Bunny said and immediately wrapped a furry arm around me and jumped until we landed on the ground. The Pooka jumped into the fight, giving Pitch a good kick and sent the necklace flying in my direction. I jumped up and grabbed it, instinctively landing on my good foot but stumbled back into one of the nightmares. It swirled all around me and snapped at my hand, drawing blood and causing me to drop the onyx right as a hole opened up below me. I dropped like a stone and slid through the tunnel and heard Jack and Bunny right behind me.

The hole opened up right above my bed, dropping me on it and Jack on me with his bony elbows digging right into my ribs.

"Ow! Get your bony self off me Snow Cap." I said and pushed him to the floor.

"Ouch." He hissed and got off the floor.

"Damn it! It got it. That stupid nightmare thing got the stone and it ffcking bit my hand!" I exclaimed in frustration and pain while moving to the bathroom that connected my room to Lillian and Cameron's and started to wash it off and get the stupid black sand washed out.

"Watch the language there." Bunny said.

"Who cares about my word choice right now? Everyone's asleep and I effing lost the necklace." I hissed quietly and sucked in a sharp breath in reaction to the cold water but grit my teeth until my hand became numb. I inspected my hand and couldn't see anything wrong besides the fact that it was going to start bleeding again. I put some antibiotic ointment on it before wrapping it up in a bandage and left the bathroom going out into the hall to find that my note was gone.

"Looking for this?" Jack asked, handing over the note. I took it from him and just threw it out. I was home now so it wasn't necessary.

"It wasn't your fault." Jack added.

"Right, of course not." I said sarcastically.

"It wasn't. Don't think that it was, but if I may ask how did he find out about the location of the stone?" He asked.

"Used the darkness to, like, probe my mind or something, it was weird because he searched my memories like that and was able to pick and choose to find what he was looking for." I explained.

"I didn't know he could do that." Bunnymund said surprised.

"Guess everyone is full of surprises." I said with a shrug.

**little corner of mine that I make:** Thank you to all readers! Every time I see an email from fanfiction with notifications, weather reviews, favorites, subscribes and so on it just makes me feel good, especially with reviews because reviews just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Unless it's a completely unnecessarily insulting one (thank god I haven't gotten one of those so far).

But yeah so Exam week at college is starting so there is little chance of there being another chapter out until the weekend or after exams...we'll just see...anyways let me know if any of you have any ideas :) I would love to read them and try to incorporate them.


	11. Chapter 10: Christmas

_Chapter 10 Christmas_

I was woken up by Lillian and Cameron who burst into the room at six in the morning and tried to pull me out of bed.

"Get up! Get up! It's Christmas!" They said loudly.

"Let me sleep!" I wined.

"But it's Christmas!" Lillian argued.

"Then you go have fun, give me another two or three hours." I replied.

"No get up! Come on!" They argued and started to pull me out of bed. I groaned and tried to anchor myself to the bed.

"I'm betting on Lillian and Cameron." Mom said from the door.

"Don't place bets!" I scolded.

"I don't know Nixie seems pretty determined to stay in bed." Dad responded, the two completely ignoring me.

"Stop placing bets on your kids!" I scolded again, while I was distracted Lillian and Cameron yanked me out of bed causing me to hit the floor with a hard thud.

"Ow, that wasn't necessary." I complained.

"It was." They responded. I rolled my eyes.

"Now get off the floor." Cameron ordered. I let out an overly dramatic groan before slowly pushing myself up to stand, slow enough to bug them. Lillian tugged at my arm impatiently until I finally stood and the two ran off to the living room. I followed behind and picked up stockings off the wall to hand them out before starting water for hot chocolate and coffee while mom and dad sorted through presents.

Ever since people started asking what I wanted for Christmas, mom and dad especially, I said nothing. There wasn't anything that I could think of that I wanted. Casey and I like to make videos and collages together so that is what we do for Christmas and Birthdays, we get together and make a video or work on/start a new collage (we're oddballs like that), for other friends we usually make cards or give them a candy cane.

Of course mom and dad still felt some weird need to get me something, but it turned out to be something that I could use. Rosetta stone for Welsh, cool, now I can learn a dying language. Lillian and Cameron got me a necklace. A glass snowflake that had the appearance of being frosted on the edges. On one side was my name, on the other the quote, "Aspiration is key to achieving your goals."

That was something that I always said anytime someone commented on my high level of ambition. I admit I do have very high goals but I am determined to achieve my goals and to help others achieve theirs if they need it, especially Lillian and Cameron, who both also have big dreams.

I smiled, put the necklace on and watched as the two opened their present from me. Lillian got a portable telescope, from mom and dad a real one that wouldn't be able to move very well so she was excited about that and for Cameron I got him Muzzy, German, hey he's six and he already knows French pretty well. Besides he asked specifically for German. I think it's because he wants to learn a language that I know and other people that we know don't (mom, dad and Lillian) so that we can have conversations that others can't understand. Or maybe it's because everything sounds like a declaration of war when it's spoken in German (no offence to the German speakers that's just how it sounds to a lot of us. I think the language is cool though).

Throughout the day we watched movies, or played outside in the snow. After lunch Lillian, Cameron and I went out into the forest to explore, each time we go we go a little deeper but not deep enough to lose our way. This time we found a large pond with a small beach and an island in the middle. There was a dock with a ladder, it seems that people used this area in the summer for swimming or canoeing. The water was frozen over but it was hard to tell if it was safe enough to actually stand on.

We all grabbed large rocks and threw them, causing the ice to crack.

"Well it was pretty safe. Now it's not." Lillian stated flatly.

"Some parts still are but we aren't going on it anyways." I replied and kicked a rock off the dock and watched it as it slid across the ice. Cameron threw a rock that collided with another and sent both sliding across, past the one I had kicked.

"Who can get their rock to the other side first?" Lillian declared. I tossed a rock to get mine further, but it just slid past it.

"And Nixie displays her terrible aim." She added.

"It's not that bad." I said and tossed another rock, missing again.

"Okay so I have bad aim." I admitted.

"No kidding." A third voice commented, landing on the ice with his bare feet was Jack. I couldn't help but smile even if he insulted my aim. Although I was surprised to see him.

"Hey Snow Cap. I thought you would be too busy to visit today." I said.

"Never too busy to visit friends. I already stopped by to say hi to Jamie." He replied.

"I want to meet this kid. I bet he's cool." I declared.

"Well he's not really a kid anymore, he's close to your age." Jack responded.

"Until someone is eighteen they are kids. And even then they're barely adults." I answered with a shrug.

"And then there's you, the forever kid at heart." Lillian said while sliding a rock across the ice, hitting mine and sending it to the other side next to Cameron's.

"Proud of it too and I'm not the only one." I replied with a smile.

"Let's go to the house so Jack can open his presents!" Lillian said excitedly and immediately ran down the dock. Cameron followed and trudged through the snow up the hill. Jack and I followed behind.

"How have you been doing today?" Jack asked.

"Fine other than Lillian and Cameron pulling me out of bed at six in the morning." I responded. Jack snickered, but tried to hide it from me.

"Yeah it's funny, I get it." I replied.

"It is pretty funny." He admitted.

"Of course it is." I answered with a roll of my eyes.

Jack seemed to find the sound remote Lillian and Cameron got him funny. You know those remotes that have different buttons and make sounds like applause and boos, things like that. This one you could also record some of your own sounds to put on it. When he opened mine he was confused by it, it was clear on his face and we couldn't help but laugh.

"Snow Cap, read the card with it and it will unlock all mysteries of the universe." I said to him. He pulled out the card and read it.

What I had given him is a charm (or bracelet, whatever you want to do with it really) that had a 3D image of a sound pattern (like when you talk in audacity or other program like that and you see the pattern of your words). The phrase it made was, _I'll always believe in you, Jack Frost._

Of course this was explained in the card that goes with it. You can even choose the colors of the beads, which I made blue.

"We're going to get ones for ourselves that are going to say, 'We believe' referring to you, the other Guardians and all the others." Lillian said with a smile although Jack was still staring at the card even though he had finished reading it.

"Are you okay?" I asked nervously and poked his arm a couple of times. I had been debating for two days before actually getting it and on and off since then being self-conscious about it.

"What? Yes. Thank you, you didn't have to give me anything." He said.

"We wanted to." We said in unison. He gave a small smile (such a cute smile! Why does he have to have suck cute smiles? Eh, heh, ignore that will you?) and tied the charm onto his staff.

Lillian and Cameron went to play outside, I sat on the stairs of the porch and watched them build a snowman while Jack and I lazed around and talked about generally anything that came to mind. He seemed curious about modern-day high school and anything else teenagers did in their spare time.

"What other teenagers do for fun? Dumb things like illegally drinking alcohol until they black out or get sick and go off having sex with the first person they think they love or is willing." I responded when he asked a question like that.

He gave me a skeptical look.

"Hey I call it like I see it. A lot of high schoolers are dumb like that." I replied with a shrug.

"And you're not?" He teased.

"I am a dumb teenager, just not in the same way. But I guess it's better than being a dumb teenager for...how old are you?" I asked. This was the first time I had asked, but definitely not the first time I had wondered on his age.

"Um, I'm not completely sure, 317 or 318 give or take?" He responded.

"Wow. That is so cool." I commented.

"Being over three hundred years old is cool?" He questioned.

"Yes. You've lived history, been able to watch it change and go to so many places and meet all different kinds of people." I exclaimed.

"Well not so much that last part." He mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Jamie was the first person to ever believe in me, so I had never been seen by others besides spirits and the Guardians the whole time." He replied.

"But there's an expression about you, your name is in songs, a character based off you is in a movie and a main character in other kids movies, you have to have had some people believe in you...you just never met them right?" I responded.

"Yeah, maybe." He responded but didn't look reassured.

"Those who don't believe in you are just dumb, but ever since meeting you I wanna know, do you actually nip at people's noses? Like that expression and in that song?" Lillian asked as she ran over.

He gave a mischievous grin and said, "Sometimes."

The next thing I noticed was messy snow white hair in my face and my nose suddenly started hurting and was colder than before. Did he actually bite at my nose?

"Ow, dude did you just bite my nose? Did you seriously just nip at my nose?" I asked while rubbing it to get it to stop hurting.

He gave an innocent smile and replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I responded with a punch to his arm and looked away with an innocent expression.

"Hey, don't hit me." He protested. I gave my own innocent smile and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You two are so weird." Cameron remarked.

"I think they're cute, like a couple." Lillian said with a smile.

"Will you stop saying that? They aren't a couple, they aren't holding hands or kissing." Cameron argued.

"Did they forget that we are still here?" Jack asked me quietly.

"But wouldn't it be so cool if they did end up being together? Then Jack would be our brother!" Lillian gushed.

"Hey you're right! That's a good point." Cameron agreed.

"Um, yes I think they did." I replied to Jack's question as my two embarrassing siblings continued to talk.

"We have decided that you two should get married!" Cameron announced, pointing at us.

"Hu?" Jack and I said stupidly in unison.

"You two should get married so Jack can join the family! It'd be great and you two would make a cute couple." Lillian gushed. My sister scares me sometimes, she can go from a girl that is way beyond her years, blunt and straightforward to a little girl who loves fairy tales and romance. It's rare for her to switch quickly but when it does it's like whiplash. I suppose that's how she grows up with a much older sister and super smart, yet goofy parents to look up to. Cameron is like that too but it's not as noticeable if you don't know him.

"And where do we get a say in this?" Jack asked.

"We didn't say you will, we said you should." Cameron responded.

"Um, how about we just live our lives the way we want to and we'll just see what happens okay? If that happens then it happens, if not then I'm sure you two will be okay with that as long as we are happy right?" I responded.

"Right!" They agreed with a smile, not their usual smiles, it was the 'we'll agree but we have ideas because we're scheming little gremlins like that' smile before running off down the hill to the neighborhood playground.

"Those did not seem like their usual smiles." Jack commented.

"They weren't those were their scheming gremlin smiles. Honestly I'm not sure I want to know what their scheming either." I replied.

"Well I should go, the weather channel called for warmer weather in the west, have to prove them wrong." Jack said while getting up.

"Okay. Don't forget to say bye to Cameron and Lillian." I replied with a laugh and was startled when he pulled me into a hug. I have no problem with hugging fiends so I didn't hesitate to hug him back.

"Thanks for the gift." He said.

"You're welcome." I replied before we broke the hug. Jack walked down the hill to Cameron and Lillian and gave them both a hug before flying off. I got up and stuck my head through the door.

"Mom, dad I'm going on a walk, Lillian and Cameron are on the playground." I called.

"Okay, be careful, don't break any more limbs." Dad called back.

"No promises but I'll do my best." I responded before closing the door.

"Cameron, Lillian I'm going on a walk, don't go any further from the house than you already are." I called to them.

"Okay!" They yelled back. I headed off through the woods where we have explored before up to the large pond and wandered further. After only about thirty minutes did my cell phone start to ring. The second I answered mom's panicked voice rang through.

"Are Lillian and Cameron with you?" She asked.

It felt like I had swallowed a block of ice the second she said this because, of course, they were not with me.

"No, can you not find them?" I asked.

"No, they aren't anywhere in or around the house that we can find." She replied.

"I'll find them and call when I do." I answered before hanging up the phone and immediately started running, completely disregarding my ankle while yelling their names as loud as I could but did not get an answer for a long time and kept going until I heard my own name.

"Nixie!" It was both of their voices, deeper into the forest. I had no idea what was beyond the lake besides the little bit that I had explored myself but that was not going to stop me.

"Cameron! Lillian!" I shouted again as I ran in the direction I had heard their voices.

"Nixie!" They shouted again, sounding distressed. I picked up speed as I ran, adrenalin kicking in helping me run faster without feeling the pain of my protesting ankle. I was forced to stop when I saw one of my very worst fears facing me. My little brother and sister cowering in the wake of dozens of those creepy nightmares. Worst part? The entire time while having been looking the sun had been setting, I didn't even notice that until now.

"Pitch! Leave them alone." I said, anger replacing the fear that I normally would have felt when seeing the nightmares.

"So you finally found them. I honestly thought that it would have taken you longer with your injury, but adrenalin does wonders for you doesn't it?" Pitch's voice asked, sounding as if it were coming from all directions. I hated when he did that. "Show yourself." I snapped.

"Being rude aren't you? But you have always had a mean streak when masking your fear." He replied.

"What can I say? Kidnapping my siblings tends to piss me off. Now how about you grace us with your presence oh irritating Nightmare King?" I responded.

"Very well." His voice said right in my ear and grayish-pale hands latched themselves onto my shoulders.

**My random little message:** Hello all! Finally finished this chapter! Done with classes until next semester wohoo! I hope to finish the new chapter for my other RotG story by tomorrow so yay for that! Sorry this took longer than expected, finals are a bitch! So I made it longer and it kind of ended up getting me closer to Nixie's death than I had originally planned but I've worked out how to make things work for that part and I think I like the new direction better anyways but if anyone has any ideas then feel free to share! And I will likely need a couple of OC's in the next...2 chapters maybe? So if anyone wants to see an OC then send them my way (note they can be normal people, animals, spirits, whatever, I'll find a place for them) to start I think I'll need 2 spirit characters...so yeah I think that is all for now :) Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 11: Early Birthday Present

_Chapter 11 Early Birthday Present_

"What do you want from us?" I asked.

"It is much easier to scare those who can see me. Who believe in me. Especially you since I am one of your biggest fears." He replied.

"Can't be gaining too much power just from us though." I said.

"You'd be surprised how much power I can gain when using all of one person's fears against them, it makes it that much better when they believe. I have three right here. One a teenager too." He said smoothly while moving to stand beside me, still keeping a good grip on my shoulders.

"Because it's rare for teenagers to believe." I concluded.

"Yes." Pitch responded.

_That's enough chatter, time to get the hell out of here._ I thought.

For once the self-defense training instincts kicked in and overrode my fear. I grabbed his wrist, flipped him over my shoulder and ran for my brother and sister, helping them to their feet. Urging them to move was another matter entirely, but I managed to get them to move their feet just as Pitch was recovering from the shock of being judo flipped by a skinny, little teenage girl.

Angry whinnies from the nightmares filled our ears as more gathered and started to form a dome. Lightning flashed and thunder shook the ground, all of this being caused by the nightmare sand. I saw a hole that was closing in, not even wasting time I pushed my siblings through and dove out before it closed us in and we ran like bats out of hell. I had no clue where we were or what was ahead but it was better than being sealed up by black sand right? Immediately it redirected and formed a wave-like shape about to bear down on us.

_Oh shit._ Went through my mind and I may or may not have actually said it out loud before running and pulling Lillian and Cameron with me. I really wish that I could, I don't know fly or something, it would be very useful right now, then I could just fly us out of danger or be able to protect Cameron and Lillian in some way, but in all honesty I'm about as useful as it would be to throw book at Pitch's head (although to see his face if someone did something like that would be pretty hilarious).

I was no stranger to the dark or being out at night, but that was very different from being in the middle of a dense, unfamiliar forest. Many of the trees were evergreens and blocked out the sky completely so really we were lucky to not have run into any trees yet since my eyes were as adjusted as they were going to get.

_Guardians, we really need your help right now._ I thought, but knew it wasn't that easy, I doubt they could heart thoughts or even hear me at all even if I used a bullhorn and screamed. Trees don't exactly allow sound to go very far, of course that was something that Lillian and Cameron have yet to learn and shouted for help anyways. They could yell louder than I could so they were a better bet than I would be at catching the attention of someone who could help us anyways.

"Pathetic." I heard Pitch say, floating on black sand right next to us. I grabbed a tree branch as we ran and allowed it to snap back. Weather it made contact or not, I had no idea but it certainly got him to back off.

The adrenalin was doing a good job of keeping my brain from registering pain but that was about all it could do. All the running was doing nothing for my ankle as I could still feel it weaken and start to bend at odd angles as I continued to run. I'm sure it would look absolutely disgusting once I actually have the chance to get a good look at it and I think I felt skin breaking and forced myself to take a quick look and yanked my pants leg up, immediately letting it fall and kept running. I was correct, it was disgusting and some bone was starting to poke at skin from what I could tell under the cast. Oh how that was going to hurt later on, have I mentioned how awesome adrenalin is during times like this? It's pretty effing awesome.

Immediately Cameron and Lillian stopped, forcing me to do so as well because we had come to a cliff with a small bridge. On the other side of the bridge was, sort of like an island that had another bridge, but I couldn't see how far that one went. The bridge looked like it hadn't been used in a hundred years and seemed a little unstable, I had seen worse but it didn't look very safe to run across. I turned around and started to walk backwards, guiding Lillian and Cameron who had death grips on my hands, both were completely terrified of heights.

"Don't look down okay? Just look at me. Remember that time I taught you two how to walk on a balance beam?" I said to them.

"But this is completely different!" Lillian squeaked.

"No it's not. You were afraid that time too but you were okay remember? You jumped right into the foam pit. You're both going to be fine." I said. Suddenly the bridge shook violently, a shadowy creature had rammed the bridge behind me. I turned to see that it looked like a black tiger.

"Not cool!" I snapped at Pitch who stood at the end of the bridge.

"What are you going to do? Either come back or keep going. Isn't a tiger your favorite animal? Being attacked by something you love, irony is fun that way." He replied with a shrug as more shadowy creatures swarmed around the bridge, causing it to shake. I noticed that different parts of the rope handle were weakening and about to snap. Lillian and Cameron clung to me and screamed, burying their faces in my shoulders so they didn't see what was going on.

_Oh great, could this day get any better?_ I wondered. Then I noticed a sleigh in the sky, coming down with North driving, the Sandman in the back and Jack flying next to it.

_Evidently it can._ I thought and heard a snap and we were thrown sideways. Immediately I grabbed one of the planks of wood and wrapped my other arm around my brother and sister, ignoring their screams right in my ear. The other rope handle snapped and, like the snowball effect, the ropes holding the bottom part of the bridge snapped, causing us to drop and hit the side of the cliff, which scraped up my arm but I held on regardless.

"Lillian, Cameron I know you're scared but you have to calm down and look at me." I said over their panicking.

It took a little longer of talking to them before they calmed down and looked up at me. I could hear the Guardians fighting above and it didn't sound like they were doing well, I took a chance and leaned a little to try and see what was going on. Black sand and shadows were swarming them. Well looks like we're on our own, better than being swarmed by them in this situation I suppose.

"Okay, I'm going to lift you up one at a time above me, keep a hold of the planks and start climbing up to the top." I ordered them.

At first they protested, a lot and loudly.

"Yes you can. You can do anything you set your mind to." I said calmly. there were several places on the rope that were slowly unraveling and about to snap under our weight. I gave them stern looks and did not wait for an answer before pushing Cameron up first. Immediately he started to climb and Lillian went up next right as one rope snapped between us. The one beside it was about to give way as another further up started to weaken.

It took me a millisecond to realize that we would not make it, our weight was too much for the rope if I stayed since the two of them together weighed nothing. I figured there was only a little bit of time before I needed to act.

"Lillian, Cameron I want to go ahead and give you your birthday present okay?" I asked while pulling out similar necklaces to the one they had given me, however they were made to fit their personalities including the pendant shaped like their favorite animals, a hawk for Lillian and a wolf for Cameron with their name on one side and the other side the quote that was on mine. It was something that I often said so that they wouldn't lose their ambition and keep chasing their dreams.

"Why?" Cameron asked.

I couldn't lie, they will see me let go.

"Because this bridge can't hold al three of us, so I'm going to let go and fall into the water below. I want you both to keep climbing okay?" I replied.

"You can't do that! Look if we climb now then you'll have time! Let's stop talking and keep climbing!" Lillian snapped. I took a brief look at the height we had left to climb, she was wrong.

"Lillian you have to take my word for it, so please take them now, I know your birthday isn't until the first but take them now. I promise everything will be just fine. There's a river below I will fall safely into the water, you both know I'm a strong swimmer, I will be fine." I assured. They both took the necklaces and studied them.

"Hey it's got the same quote." Cameron said with a smile.

"Right, our necklaces show our differences but the quote can represent our similarities, we're siblings and we will work hard to achieve our goals. Don't forget that, keep chasing your dreams and don't let anyone put you down for it." I said while fighting back tears. I could see that they were doing the same, but in the end we had no idea what was below, we know that I just said that to reassure them. The second rope between us was going to break any second and the one close to the top was straining.

"Please don't let go." Lillian said, her voice cracking and the tears falling freely.

"Don't cry. I'll be okay. You have to trust me okay? I don't want to risk you two getting hurt. Believe in me. Now keep climbing. Go, keep going!" I ordered before letting go and dropped. I could see that they were screaming and crying but heard nothing over the sound of the roaring wind. In seconds I could no longer see them and felt an impact of water. I have no idea what height that was or the height you have to be to survive an impact on water but this impact was not fatal, probably extremely close because it was very painful.

"Nixie! Nixie!" Cameron shouted.

"Come on Cameron!" Lillian yelled at him and pushed him up and continued to climb. As soon as the two made it to the top Jack noticed them, surprised. They thought Pitch had taken them when he disappeared, leaving them in the midst of the fight. He rushed over and helped pull them up.

"Are you two okay? Where's your sister? We thought Pitch took you three!" Jack said and noticed their faces. Immediately they clung to him crying and trying to speak but nothing was clear.

"Calm down. Where is Nix?" Jack asked.

"She fell! T-t-t-the bridge was breaking and, and, and she let go so we could get up safely! Sh-sh-she could have made it but she didn't think so!" Lillian managed to choke out.

"Tooth! Keep them safe!" Jack called; immediately Tooth flew over and herded the two away from the cliff while Jack dove down to see a large fast running river. Where Nixie likely landed was fairly deep, but Jack couldn't tell if the height was fatal or not so he flew down river, desperately trying to find his friend. The first sign was her scarf. He picked it up to find some blood on it. He then found her gloves and earmuffs. He continued to follow the trail but didn't find anything else besides the brace she had on her ankle.

He continued to fly around trying to find her but had no luck, it took North and Bunnymund both to get him to stop looking. North sent out some Yetis to keep searching while they returned to the cliff to walk with Lillian and Cameron back to the house. The two had both come up with a, semi-different story but were silent besides occasional sounds from crying.

Once they arrived at the house the two had stopped crying and now seemed to be in shock for a little while. There were police officers in the road and the driveway. When Mrs. West noticed her youngest children she and her husband ran to them and held them, crying in relief. The kids dad was the first to notice their eldest daughter's absence.

"I should go call Nixie and let her know that you two are safe at home." He said.

"She won't answer. She fell into a river after she found us. Daddy, Nixie is gone!" Lillian burst out and started crying again.

"Calm down, what are you talking about? What happened?" Their mom asked. The two tried but failed. It took another ten minutes before they could explain what had happened (or at least the believable story, they wouldn't believe the truth).

The police headed off to search after the two explained where they were, they tried to press for more details but the two were too upset so the officers were sent off while their parents took them inside.

It wasn't for another few weeks before Nixie was officially pronounced dead. Jack had left behind the things he found so that the police could find them and the family held a funeral, burying an empty casket since her body was not found.

Lillian and Cameron barely slept in their own rooms, instead they slept in Nixie's bed but other than that no one touched her things once at home. Their parents wouldn't even look at anything of Nixie's and had become more irritable, of course they tried to hide it when Lillian and Cameron were around but the two could still hear them arguing about the smallest things sometimes at night.

Jack spent more time with Lillian and Cameron, of course he didn't forget about his duties as a Guardian or his other human friends, however the two seemed to be in better moods with him around, as the two themselves were more irritable as well.

Jack sat on a window ledge in the North Pole, making frosted shapes on the glass with his hood pulled up and stared out the window.

"Are you alright?" North asked him and added, "I know she was a good friend."

"I could have saved her." Jack mumbled.

"You did all you could, we were being attacked and her siblings are safe. She did not seem like the kind of person to think like that, we cannot let her sacrifice be in vain and continue to protect the children, her brother and sister included. I fear that Pitch may come back for them, and if he knows what happened after his disappearance, he'll use it against them." North responded.

Jack didn't reply, only got up and walked off.

**Little corner of mine:** Well...yeah this chapter is finished and there ends the story...

Of course I'm just kidding, I already have about half of the next chapter written so it shouldn't take me too long to finish it. I'm not exactly sure what this chapter leaves for the reader so feel free to leave a review or send me a message (of course you can anytime you want ^^) or leave ideas and suggestions...so yeah thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 12: Becoming a Spirit

_Chapter 12 Becoming a Spirit_

_ Pain. It consumed me. Pain and confusion filled my mind. Faces and memories flashed before my eyes and slowly faded away. I reached out for them, chased them down but the harder I tried to reach them the faster they faded. All except for one memory._

_ Faces, frightened, upset, angry faces of two young children with blonde hair and blue eyes. Their names flashed in my head._

_ Cameron and Lillian._

_ I do not know how or why I know them. In the brief memory I reached out to them, handing them something before letting go of something and falling. The two children's screams echoed in my mind, an impact, pain and struggling, water rushing around and then the memory was black._

I slowly woke up, finding half of my body in the water and the other half laying on a boulder on the riverside. I looked up at the full moon.

_Your name is Nixie. You have children to help._ A voice in my mind told me. Immediately I knew it was the moon who had spoken to me.

I stretched out, my joints and muscles stiff and sore and fur was wet and uncomfortable. I looked down at my arms to see large orange and black striped paws with my arms also covered in orange and black striped fur. I got up onto all fours and looked into the dark mirror-like water to see a large orange and black striped cat with dark blue eyes and catlike pupils. I cocked my head and so did the tiger.

_Have I always been a tiger? If so then why do I have such an odd memory of having human hands? Was that merely a dream?_ I wondered while attracting my claws and clawed at the rock to help sharpen them. They felt dull and uncomfortable when retracted in my paws. After about a minute of this I decided to survey the area, try and find out where I am and maybe what had happened. I walked upriver until I saw a large pillar jutting up the middle of the river with two cliffs on either side. I looked up at a bridge that connected from one cliff to the pillar but the other cliff, it looks like the bridge had been damaged and most of the middle part of it was gone.

Something flashed in my mind, odd creatures with yellow eyes and made of black sand were chasing after a female, human and caused damage to the bridge.

_Is that what had happened? Was I there?_ I wondered and wandered around more, aware that this cold forest was not natural for a tiger to live in. I wandered into a neighborhood to find a multitude of police cars outside of a house.

_Something feels wrong. If I'm a tiger than why am I aware of what a police car is. Why does it feel odd to be a tiger? Am I not supposed to be one?_ I wondered, my head started to hurt from the confusion of it all.

_Why do I have memories of a human? Why do I know so much about human things? Am I not supposed to be a tiger? Please moon, help me!_

A family came outside, two children around six or seven years old and their parents. Three of them had blonde hair, the father and the two children, but the father had brown eyes while the children had blue and the mother had blue hair and blue eyes.

_A genetic disorder that runs through the family. There should be a third child, seventeen with blue hair and blue eyes like her mom._ I thought and more memories flooded into my mind.

_Th-that's my family? What's wrong? Why are there police officers? Why are they upset? Why have I been turned into a tiger?_ I questioned. I was even more confused because my memories were so spotty. I knew that the house they were at was only where the family stayed in the Winter...so where did we really live?

Immediately I ran up to them and opened my mouth to talk but all that came out was a halfhearted roar and jumped, scaring myself, but they did not react even though a freaking tiger was standing three feet away from them. No one seemed to notice at all.

Am I invisible? Maybe if I were human again...

Almost immediately as a picture of my human self came to mind my body started to contort and change, becoming smaller until I stood, as myself, beside my family.

"Mom? Dad? What's wrong? Why are you all so upset?" I asked. No one reacted. I knelt down next to Cameron and Lillian who were crying heavily.

"Don't cry. Please tell me what's wrong." I said and put my arms around them but my arms went right through them. Immediately I jumped back and stared at my hands. I stood right in front of my parents and waved my hands in front of their faces. Still no reaction. Dad turned and walked right through me, down the steps to one of the officers.

"Gah!" I jumped and moved away only for Cameron and Lillian to walk right through me as they walked to mom. She wrapped her arms around them as the three cried together. I desperately yearned to hold them and make their crying stop but my family couldn't see me.

_Am...am I dead?_ I wondered thinking back on the two memories that seemed to be the most recent. The odd dark creatures attacking and giving Cameron and Lillian their early Birthday presents. I'm missing something important. I know it.

Dad came back up the stairs, walking through me again to join our family in their sadness. Are they sad because I'm dead? That must be it. I must be dead. I didn't survive the fall.

Can spirits of the dead shape shift or something? What was it the moon had told me? My name is Nixie and I have children to help. My siblings? Or different children? Why? What can I do?

I tried once again to get my family's attention but after being passed through by them as they headed inside I gave up on it and sat on the roof hugging my knees close to my chest allowing tears to fall but I did not make a sound.

Eventually I fell asleep where I was, and when I woke up it was morning and all the cars were gone. I jumped down to the porch and looked around inside. No personal belongings that weren't already there were around. Not even my own from my room. They had packed up and left already and I can't even remember where we live.

"Damn it! Now how am I going to find them?" I shouted, frustrated, scaring a hawk.

"Really? Why can you see and hear me but they can't?" I demanded. It would be very helpful to be able to fly like the hawk. Maybe I would be able to fly around and find them.

The second the thought came to mind and the picture of the hawk came to mind I had the familiar sensation of my body contorting, becoming even smaller. I looked down at myself to see feathers all over. I opened my arms to see that I had wings. Fucking wings!

_Okay I have to admit that this is pretty awesome._ I thought and attempted to take off. I was surprised at how naturally it came to me as I soared over the trees and looked around for the two vehicles. Hawk vision is awesome by the way, but since I had no idea where they were going I didn't know which direction to go. I was forced to face the fact that they were long gone and I would not likely seem them again until I remembered where we live.

Five years later

I practiced relentlessly with my strange abilities and discovered that I wasn't exactly dead. The moon had also changed my appearance some. My hair was still blue but had black and white streaks mixed in as well. Apparently the Man in the Moon, as most called him, had done something similar for someone else. A Guardian called Jack Frost, the guardian of fun. Resurrecting us and can only be seen or heard if they believe in us. Something that did not make me feel much better about no one in my family being able to see me.

But I can't let myself dwell on that all the time so I started to use my abilities to help others and used the idea that many cultures had of spirit animal guides or bringing something to them that could help them weather that help was for something they wanted to do in life or actual need of help like food. It was by that time that I had finally gained the memory of where I grew up, immediately rushing to my hometown of New Orleans and finally found my house.

I landed on the balcony rail outside my room and looked in through the window. The room looked as if it hadn't been used in years. A layer of dust coated everything and all was cold and untouched. My bed wasn't made even though I always made it before going on vacation, so it had been slept in since we left, but the last time it had been slept in was a very long time ago.

A bus pulled up down the street and an older version of my brother and sister got off and walked up the street into the house. They must be in sixth grade by now. Eleven going on twelve. I noticed that they were wearing the necklaces I had given them for their birthday. I unconsciously laced my fingers around my own snowflake necklace and walked right through the door into my room. I went down the stairs and followed my siblings to their rooms hearing them talk about an assignment they had in class about what they wanted to be when they grow up, however the conversation was short and halfhearted.

"They can't still remember me so well that they'd still be depressed. They were six when I died." I said aloud. Although exactly what we were doing on that bridge and what those creatures were I still wasn't sure.

From that day on I helped Cameron and Lillian as best I could. It was heartbreaking to be so close to my family but not been see or heard. I tried everything I could think of to make them see me but nothing I did worked and all the time I begged for answers from the Moon who blatantly ignored me so I continued with my life of helping others when they needed it or needed guidance. It seems that the only way I could get others to see me if they didn't believe in spirit animal guides was through dreams. If I took the shape of a specific animal that represented what a person needed then I could hitch a ride onto some dreamsand going to them and help them figure out what they needed to do in their dreams.

Of course this only worked when I choose a specific animal. I couldn't do it in human form.

"Such a heartbreaking thing, not to be seen by your own family." A voice said behind me. I had been looking in on my family once again. Three more years having passed by since I had remembered where I lived. I turned to face a man that I recognized but couldn't figure out who he was or how I knew him. He was tall with dark gray skin, black hair that stuck out at the back and a long black robe-like outfit.

"Um. Hello. Am I supposed to know who you are?" I asked him.

"You do not remember me?" He questioned.

"No. My memories are still very spotty." I responded.

"Well then allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Pitch Black. It is a pleasant surprise to see you again Nixie." He said smoothly.

"Nice to meet you Pitch." I replied politely.

"Word is starting to spread about you, calling you the Totem. Fitting I suppose since that is where you had gotten the idea for the use of your powers right?" He asked.

"More or less. Totem? People are tagging me with totem poles? Really? Well I guess I could get stuck with something worse." I replied with a shrug.

"What all do you remember?" Pitch asked. I could tell that there was something more to the question than simple curiosity but I didn't see any reason not to answer since all I remember right now are spotty memories of my childhood with family and school.

"Only some spotty memories with my family, some childhood memories and some school memories. I remember the love for my family though. Especially for my brother and sister.

There are a few weird ones though. Right before my death there were these odd horse creatures made of black sand and other creatures that seemed to be made of pure darkness or a smoke-like darkness. I feel like I've know creatures like that my whole life but they aren't in any of my memories. I suppose something that must have terrified me my whole life would be suppressed deeper and harder to resurface. Other than my family and a few friends from school and ice skating with I don't remember other people." I replied.

Pitch was silent for a little bit, he seemed to be thinking about something and asked, "Have you met any other spirits? The Guardians?"

"No. Only heard of them. I do my own thing. The moon told me I need to help children, but that was it." I replied.

"But you don't help just children right?" He questioned.

"No. I don't care what the moon says, I'll help whomever I want and that help will not just be limited to children." I replied while hooking my thumbs in my belt.

I had an odd style of clothing now a days, wearing a pair of combat boots under a simple knee length royal blue dress with a black belt that held some throwing knives, smoke bombs, other assorted stuff, and a katana. I know I have always wanted one but wouldn't have a use for it, now I do. Over the dress I had a white cloak that a Native American tribe member had made after I carried (as a black bear) her to help after she had broken both legs and a few ribs. Under the dress I wore a pair of simple black shorts and a black shirt with sleeves that stopped at my elbows.

"And rumor has it that you can change into anything." He inquired further. Surprisingly I didn't mind the questions, but being alone for the past eight years I guess can do that to you.

"No, only any animal as far as I can tell. Even extinct ones if I know what they look like." I replied and was curious about him and asked, "I presume human got the term, pitch black, from you. I assume you can control darkness?"

"You would be correct." He replied.

"Would you happen to know anything about those creatures? The ones made of darkness and black sand?" I asked.

"They are called nightmares and fearlings." He answered.

"They bring bad dreams to people and bring fear and make bad things happen to people or something like that?" I guessed based off of their names.

"Yes."

"You rule over them don't you?" I asked. He seemed a little uncomfortable, was he afraid to answer?

"I do." He finally answered.

"And one of them made that bridge break. You were there when I died weren't you?" I questioned.

"No. I was not there when you died." He responded. I had a feeling that he may have been telling the truth, that he wasn't around when I actually choose to let go of the bridge, but I knew he wouldn't tell me anymore unless I asked, even then he might lie for all I know.

**Me:** Okay so most of this chapter, as you have read, went through most of the years before she becomes a guardian quickly because most of those years were used to practice with her abilities and starting to help people in need and help them achieve their goals, so on and so forth while still continuing with her own by continuing to learn new languages and travel. More details will come with the next chapters, there is a method to the madness. I realize that Nixie's finding her family and remembering them was fast but like I said in the beginning she does retain memories and is getting them back much faster than Jack ever did. Always a method to the madness

Except for the method of not editing much, I just kind of went through to check for obvious mistakes.


	14. Chapter 13: A New Guardian

_Chapter 13 A New Guardian_

Another two years had past. No other spirit had sought out Nixie to meet her, most ignored her. Well most besides Pitch. She was steadily regaining her memories of him with each time she saw him. Most of the memories were the bad dreams, however she didn't hold that against him. She didn't usually hold grudges unless someone was hurting a friend or family and she made sure he was aware of the fact that she would tear him apart if he tried hurting her siblings. Otherwise Nixie was unaware of anything he was doing and the two were on civilized terms with one another.

Usually they didn't see each other often, but when they did they had no problem with talking for a little bit, they stayed out of each others business and each others way; that was it.

New Years was coming around and North was hosting another New Years Eve party for his fellow Guardians. They all ate, socialized and played games when a monitor suddenly came on flashing news reports from all over the world of strange accidents, buildings collapsing, sinkholes and other random occurrences. Reports of people beginning to panic were among them. There have been few causalities but the number of accidents suddenly occurring over the past few weeks have been scaring people.

Next the globe started to flicker with some black sand and shadows swirling about before disappearing.

"Looks like Pitch is going to try again." Jack commented as the monitor continued to flash reports of panic around the world.

The moon started to shine brightly as the large crystal rose up from the floor.

"And it looks like Manny thinks we need help." North said as they all turned to the glowing crystal.

"With five of us? Pitch can't stand up to all five of us." Bunnymund replied in disagreement.

They all watched in silence as an image formed. Someone they didn't recognize immediately.

"Who's that?" Bunnymund questioned. A sand image of a totem pole appeared above Sandy with a realization.

"Totem?" Tooth asked. Sandy nodded.

"Totem? But she's only been around for a few years right?" Bunny questioned.

The number ten appeared over Sandy's head.

"Ten years? Are you sure?" Jack asked and flew up to the image of the girl, trying to figure out if it was indeed who he thought it was.

Sandy nodded.

"Is that her real name?" Jack asked. Sandy shook his head.

"What is her name then?" Jack asked. Sandy shrugged. He looked to the other Guardians but they didn't know either.

"Why Totem? Why not another who's been around longer?" Tooth questioned.

"Maybe she can shed light on that when she gets here." North said and started giving orders to a few yetis to go and get her.

"Anyone even know where she is? From what rumors have said she goes everywhere and can change into any animal." Tooth wondered aloud. Sandy made an image appear. It was the Empire State building.

"New York? Alright." North said and sent the yetis on their way. Sandy could usually find Totem easily since she hitched rides into people's dreams to help them with something.

I sat at the top of one of the buildings overlooking Times Square, watching the New Years celebrations below. Several buildings away from the rooftops with performers. I had always wanted to see Times Square at New Years Eve but this was actually the first time I actually came. After the ball drop I plan to go home and see my brother and sister for their seventeenth birthday. They have the rest of their junior and their senior year of high school left before going off to college.

It surprised me to learn that Cameron planned to go to Appalachian State University with similar career choice I had. There was no surprise that Lillian planned to go to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for Astronomy.

While lost in thought I didn't notice that I was no longer alone on the roof, or at least not until something grabbed the back of my cloak.

"Hey! What the hell?" I said, surprised to see two yetis.

"Put me down!" I snapped, but that was not what they did. They ignored me and shoved me into a big red sack, closing it up.

"Hey let me out!" I yelled when they suddenly threw me. The second I landed I changed into my tiger form and shredded my way out of the sack with a fierce growl, startling the yetis, little elves and five people I knew as the Guardians. I changed back to my normal form, straightening out my sword that hung on my belt.

"What the crap North? What's with the kidnapping? Especially shoving me into a sack and being thrown through a magic portal? Really? Not cool at all." I said irritated and ran my fingers through my hair out of my face to look at them properly.

"Did I do something wrong? I mean to bring you five together like this I must have done something really bad and I honestly can't think of having done anything that bad. I was hoping I wasn't even on the naughty list at all." I said while looking around.

"You? On naughty list? That is laughable." North said while laughing.

I stopped when someone stood right in front of me. He looked to be about my age, or at least the age I was when I died. He had white hair, icy blue eyes, was about a head taller than me, wore a blue hoddie with frost designs on it, brown pants and was barefoot carrying a staff that was also frosty.

He was staring at me intently, as if trying to memorize my face or something.

"Um, Jack Frost right?" I asked.

"Yes. Do you know me?" He asked.

"Je ne sais pas. If we had met during my human life then I'm sorry Snow Cap but my memories are still very spotty." I replied.

"Everyone calls you Totem. What's your real name?" He questioned.

"Nixie. Nixie West." I answered. His expression lit up and he asked more questions, "Do you know your brother and sister? Where they live? Where you lived?"

"Cameron and Lillian, grew up in New Orleans, family still lives there. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we knew each other." I replied.

"Yes! We're friends! This is great!" Jack said excitedly and immediately jumped on me, giving me a hug. The hug felt familiar, Jack's presence, cool and comforting, smelling like a nice crisp winter day. Happiness filled me but it also bugged me since I couldn't remember him from my past life. I broke from the hug and backed away.

"You are Nixie? That's great! Open up! Are your teeth still good? Yes! You still have great teeth!" She said excitedly while holding my mouth open for her to see my teeth.

"Can someone tell me why I'm here? I'm already really confused from meeting someone I should know." I said while back away from her.

"You have been chosen to be a Guardian." Tooth said with a smile.

"What?" I asked confused while music started playing and yetis held ceremonial torches. Little tooth fairies flew up with some kind of necklace and elves brought over a weird pair of shoes. I backed off from them while North opened a large book a flipped to a page somewhere in the middle.

I concentrated on a form that I had only used once before and pictured it in my mind as clearly as possible, changing into a lioness and let out a long, loud roar that stopped the music and the commotion, sending the elves running and hiding. I changed back to normal immediately to take advantage of the now silent room.

"A Guaridan? What makes you think I want to be a Guardian?" I demanded.

North laughed and said, "Of course you do. That's funny Jack said the same thing. Music!"

The elves started to play music again, I jumped into a new form, a large boa constrictor and surrounded the elves hissing at them. Immediately they dropped their instruments and ran off to hide.

"Why would you chose me? I've only been around for ten years. You don't want me, you all spend all your time focused on bringing joy to the little shits who already have good lives. I focus on not only kids but teenagers and adults too." I replied.

"What did you call the children?" Bunnymund demanded.

"Little shits. I'm talking the irritating, spoiled children who put on a façade of nice so North brings them what they want while they subtly bully other kids who are already having a rough time and don't learn anything they need too and take everything they have for granted." I responded and added, "The whole doing everything you can to bring joy to children and only protecting children is not my thing. I help anyone that needs it or teach lessons and guide others and help them accomplish goals."

"It is destiny. Man in Moon chose you. And now it is easy to understand why." North argued.

"Because I died to help my siblings but the thing is they won't always be kids, they only have a year left. I'm not going to be limited to protecting and helping children, especially not the ungrateful ones that make up most of your believers. That's not for me, why did Moony suddenly decide he wanted another little minion anyway?" I responded.

"The boogieman is causing trouble. Using a stone you had found to cause trouble and spread panic and fear around the world." Tooth answered.

"Pitch? I'm sorry but I can't help you" I answered.

"What? Why? Do you not remember him too?" Jack asked.

"I've regained several memories of him the past two years. I'm well aware of some of the things he's done but presently we are on civilized terms and I would like to keep it that way with everyone. I will continue to help and do things my way. Sorry to disappoint everyone but I refuse to be limited to children and I don't bring joy. I help them with real life situations that clearly none of you have the time for because your too busy bringing joy. Simple joy will keep them happy for now, but it won't help them learn how to take care of themselves when that need arises. Whatever Pitch is doing to threaten you guys is something you'll have to work out with him yourselves. I'll keep helping those who need it most and you can protect the children and bring them joy." I replied.

"Nixie we need your help. He's using that stone that you worked hard to keep hidden from him. Man in the Moon choose you to be a Guardian. You are a Guardian." Jack replied.

"I like to say that I am a Guardian, but not the kind you are. You five are Guardian's of childhood, you protect the children and what is held most dear during childhood. I respect that, really I do but I don't want to be limited to just protecting and bringing joy to children. I want to help those in need, child or not so it was great meeting you all...again it would seem, but next time you want to tell me something that Man in the Moon doesn't seem to want to tell me to my face, shoving me into a sack will not be necessary." I said while leaning against one of the posts.

"If you are a guardian then what is your center?" North questioned.

"My center?" I asked confused.

"Walk with me. I will explain." He replied and headed out of the room. I gave Jack a questioning expression, he returned it with an encouraging one. I couldn't help but trust him and followed North. While looking around the workshop as we walked another memory started to rise up in my mind, like remembering a dream. The first time I had met Jack.

_Well there's another memory. Geez how long will it be before I remember everything?_ I wondered. We came to what I assumed was North's office, or whatever. The door closed behind us and locked and he walked up to me with an intimidating expression.

"Who are you? What is your center?" North asked.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

He picked up a Russian doll and handed it to me.

"This is how you see me. Intimidating yes? But not only that." He said. I opened it.

"You're jolly." I stated looking at the second doll.

"Not just jolly. I am also mysterious...fearless...caring and my center." He said while opening each doll to a little baby with big blue eyes.

"A big eyed baby." I stated.

"Eyes full of wonder. It is what I put into the world and protect in children. That is my center. What is yours?" He questioned.

I thought about it while rubbing my finger over my snowflake necklace and looked at it, turning it around to the back reading the quote, "Aspiration is key to achieving your goals."

"Aspiration." I answered and asked, "But I'm not one of you. You take care of matter for kids. I prefer to help and protect anyone who needs it."

"I understand. Manny must know this. There must be a reason for choosing you. But right now we need your help against Pitch." He replied.

"I want to stay on civil terms with Pitch, I will help protect those who need it, those in need because of him included but I will not fight him unless I have to." I answered. He gave a small smile and said, "I understand. You are different but I believe that you are a Guardian, a Guardian not just of children but everyone's Guardian."

"Well if you will excuse me my brother and sister are turning seventeen in an hour, I would like to go and see them. Next time you want me, don't shove me into a sack okay?" I replied as we walked out of the office back into the workshop. North laughed and said, "Right of course. We will find you if we need you then."

He opened a magic portal for me that took me right to my street. I landed badly, rolling and landing on my back, winding me and hit the back of my head. Slowly I sat up and rubbed the back of my head.

**Moi:** Yeah I've been meaning to review this and have my sister review it as well but I keep forgetting so don't be surprised by mistakes. Sorry for it taking so long to update. School started back today but one of my classes isn't open until February (whoo! sleep in!) cause of construction.


	15. Chapter 14: Reunion

_Chapter 14 Reunion_

"Ow." I hissed.

"Since when do you use magic portals?" A familar lovely, smooth, British accented voice questioned. I looked up to see Pitch standing over me.

"Since North had me shoved into a sack and tossed through one about an hour ago." I responded. He held out a hand to help me up. I took it and let him help me stand.

"Why would North do that?" He questioned.

"It would seem that I had been chosen to become a Guardian." I replied.

"You're a Guardian now?" He questioned.

"No not really. Not the same way the others are. I prefer guide but I'm willing to protect anyone who needs it and help anyone who needs it as always, with the exception of those who need help and it'll harm another." I responded.

"But you were still chosen. So that would make us enemies." He pointed out.

"I don't care if I was chosen or not and I'm not getting into any kind of fight with you or anyone unless directly threatened or my family is. I'm staying out of whatever you're doing and anything you and the Guardians have against each other. I would like to stay on civil terms with everyone." I explained.

"Good choice." He replied with a smile.

Another magic portal suddenly opened and Jack jumped out of it.

"Nixie why'd you just disappear like that?" He asked and noticed Pitch there. He scowled and gave me a questioning look before asking, "Why are you talking to him so casually?"

"If you remember I had said that I am on civil terms with Pitch and intend to keep it that way. If you two can't be on civil terms then take your issues somewhere else, I don't want them here." I replied.

"But he caused your death!" Jack argued.

"I am aware of this Jack, but this is my life, I decide how I want to act around others and I have my reasons. I've gained one memory of you so far and would like to be friends so please leave your problems with each other to the side for now or go deal with them away from me alright?" I responded giving both of them questioning expressions. They glared at each other and didn't say a word.

I spun around on my heels and walked up to my house, looking in through the window. Mom and dad had already gone to bed, they hadn't stayed up for New Years since I was about ten, but Cameron and Lillian were up along with one of their friends. Lillian's best friend Candy and Cameron's best friend Jason, although all four of them hung out together so they were more like four best friends.

Right next to my head a snowball hit the window, making me jump. It also caught my siblings and their friends' attention. Immediately they ran to the window with a smile and waved at Jack.

"What was that for Jack?" I demanded.

"To get their attention." He replied.

"I don't think they will care if you just go inside to say hi." I answered as the four ran out of the house. It would seem that Lillian and Cameron had helped their best friends to believe and see Jack.

"Gaining more believers aren't yah?" I asked him.

He gave a small smile in return as the four ran up to him. I moved so that I wouldn't get walked through, it was a horrible feeling but I didn't move fast enough to prevent Lillian from walking through me. I stepped back quickly away from them and turned away as they gave Jack a hug. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw an empathetic expression cross Jack's features as he looked at me. I gave him a reassuring smile and just stood out of the way, sitting on the rail of the porch.

"Hey Cameron, Lillian, there is someone I want you to meet. But the thing is, like me, you have to believe in her so that you can see her." Jack said.

"Who?" Candy asked.

"She's known as Totem, because she comes to people in the shape of animals and she enters dreams as an animal to help guide, protect and help people. She was recently named a Guardian but she rejected it, not wanting to be limited to protecting children since she has a brother and sister who will be adults soon. She helps people achieve their goals or get help that they need for survival or becoming a better person. She also makes people want to work hard to achieve their goals." He explained.

"If she's known as Totem then she must have been around for a long time." Lillian commented.

"Not very long, but she's here with me. Lillian accidentally walked through her." Jack responded, muttering the last part.

"I did? Oh I'm sorry Totem." Lillian said sadly.

"She's sitting on the porch rail. Right here." Jack said, landing next to me and sat on my lap. To the four it looked as if he were sitting on nothing.

"Dude what are you doing get off me." I said trying to push him off, quickly he wrapped his arms around me and said, "You push me off and I'll take you with me."

_Ass._ I thought but stopped trying to shove him off my lap.

"Jack they aren't going to see me why are you even trying?" I asked, the four turned their heads to me.

"Was that Totem's voice? Talking to you?" Cameron asked Jack.

"It was. She's got a blue dress with different dangerous stuff on a black belt, combat boots, white cloak, elbow-length black shirt and shoulder length blue, black and white hair." Jack responded and started rocking, threatening to topple both of us over.

"Stop that before you make us fall!" I snapped.

"Totem? You...look familiar." Lillian commented. My head snapped in her direction, she was looking right at me.

"What did you just say?" I asked.

"You look familiar." Cameron responded, all four were looking right at me.

"You guys can see me?" I asked.

"Yeah, now." Jason responded.

I immediately shoved Jack off me, causing him to fall to the frosty ground and jumped down standing in front of Lillian and Cameron. I knew they were wearing the necklaces. I reached out to the necklaces and pulled them out, looking at them. My hand didn't go through. I then pulled out my own necklace so they could see it clearly.

"Hey we gave our sister a necklace like that before she died." Cameron commented and the two took a closer look to see my name and turned it over to see the matching quote.

"Totem...you're...Nixie?" Lillian asked.

"Yeah." I answered.

"You're the one who's been coming into our dreams?" She asked. I nodded, not being able to stop my eyes from tearing up.

"You two can see me, and hear me." I responded.

I pulled them into a hug and said, "This is probably weird for you guys. You probably don't remember me well after ten years."

They hugged me back, surprising me.

"We could never forget you. You saved our lives and lied to us you bitch." Lillian said.

"Hey now, don't use that language." I said pulling away.

"You use it I'm sure." She said defensively.

"I kept telling you two not to follow my example." I responded.

"I don't remember that. It was a long time ago." She responded innocently.

"You two have very good memories. You're smart." I countered.

"Okay, no fighting." Jack cut in, walking over to the group.

"So this is the awesome sister you told us about." Candy commented.

"Yes." Cameron answered.

I let them talk and turned to Jack giving him a hug saying, "Thank you."

"For what?" He questioned.

"They wouldn't have seen me without your help." I replied.

"Your sister is hot." Jason commented.

"You can't have her. She and Jack are meant to be." Lillian responded.

"You're still on about that?" Candy asked her.

"Of course I am." She replied.

Did I just hear what I think I heard?" Jack asked.

"What do you think you heard?" I questioned.

"I think I heard your sister saying we are meant to be. Guess she's going on about that again." He responded.

A brief flash of Jack and I sitting on the steps at the mountain house came to mind. The rest of the memory came with it. Cameron and Lillian saying that it would be great if Jack and I ended up together so he'd be part of the family.

"Seems so." I responded with a shrug.

"It's kind of cold, can we go inside?" Candy asked.

"Yeah, come on you two, we have to get mom and dad!" Lillian said excitedly.

"You guys should know very well that they will not believe I'm here." I responded as they let us all in.

"Why wouldn't they?" Cameron asked skeptically.

"They just...wouldn't okay? If it wasn't Jack telling you I was here then would you believe it? Mom and dad don't believe in the Easter Bunny or Santa anymore and never believed in Jack, what makes you think they'd believe I was here? Just let them move on okay?" I responded.

"But...they'd want to see you again." Lillian said.

"Well it's not like I can stop you from trying, but please, when I insist that you stop; listen okay? I love our parents...but sometimes they don't know how they should react to things or deal with them." I answered.

"Like the frequent nightmares you had when you were little." Jack put in.

"...Yeah, kind of like that." I replied.

"Okay, okay." Cameron answered.

"Why don't we wait until tomorrow, so we don't wake them up." Candy suggested.

"Hm...I guess so. Then let's play a game!" Lillian suggested as we made our way back to the living room.

"Like?" Jason asked.

"Apples to Apples." I suggested.

"What is that? We don't have that game." Cameron responded.

"You do have it, you just don't remember it well because it's technically mine so it is in my room." I responded and went to my bedroom door and had to yank it open. Just like when I had to throw myself at it to open it when I first returned home.

"You really need to have someone fix this door." I commented and headed up the stairs. Cameron, Lillian and their friends hesitated before following Jack and myself up to my room, which I had cleaned up about three years ago and kept up with since. Sometimes I even slept in my bed when I needed a break.

"Woah, when did the bed get made?" Lillian asked.

"Depends on when you're talking about. It's been made several times because I do sleep in it sometimes." I responded.

"What? You've been here? And, and sleeping in your room all this time? You've been haunting your own room?" Cameron asked.

"Only like once every few months when I have time. And I wouldn't really say haunting since I'm not a ghost." I answered.

"Why didn't you come to us?" Lillian asked, sounding hurt, which in all honesty ticked me off a little bit.

"I did. Ever since I gained memories of our home and when I first found you after my death. You didn't believe in me so you didn't see me and you threw away notes I wrote and ignored half of the messages in your dreams." I responded flatly before walking over to my closet and pulled out the game, tossing it on the bed and sat at my desk before a familiar sensation sprung up, instincts. I jumped up and headed to the balcony door.

"Where are you going?" Cameron asked.

"Don't worry I'll be back soon. I'm just going to do my job." I responded before opening and door and jumping to the form of a hawk and flew off to find the person in need, not too far away.

"I can't believe she's been here all this time." Lillian said.

"She wasn't, weren't you listening? She had to wait for her memories of home to return. And as you can see she comes and goes. From the rumors she's likely a very busy person all year round if she helps all ages all around the world." Jack responded.

"How long did it take her to regain her memories?" Cameron asked.

"She's still regaining them. I don't know when she got her memories of home back. I just found out that she was alive today when she was named a Guardian and brought to the North Pole." Jack responded.

"What? Nixie's a Guardian?" Lillian asked excitedly.

"Well she was chosen, but she rejected it." Jack replied.

**Yolah: **Sorry about the late updates, school has started back and I got really bad writers block that I'm fighting


	16. Chapter 15: Burgess

_Chapter 15 Burgess_

"What? You rejected being a guardian? Why?" Cameron asked.

"Because what they do is focused on children and kids. I don't help just kids and I don't want to be limited to that." I responded.

"You two only have one more year of being a kid before you become adults. She wants to protect and help you when that happens." Jack said.

"But still you rejected being a Guardian." Cameron argued.

"I know I did. If being a Guardian means I have to protect only children and fight against other spirits then I'd rather stay the way I am, be neutral and do my own thing." I responded with a shrug.

"I agree with your decision Nixie." Lillian said with a smile.

"Thanks." I replied.

"As do I." The British accented voice of Pitch said from the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" Cameron asked.

"It's okay, this is a peaceful visit right?" I asked Pitch giving him a, 'it better be' expression.

"Of course as long as Frost keeps the peace as well." He replied.

"Nixie...are you two friends?" Cameron asked.

"Friends? No. Acquaintances would be more accurate." Pitch answered.

"Yeah. And yes I do remember him and although I don't appreciate the things he's done I would prefer to stay on civil terms so with the new life I wanted a new start with some. Okay? Okay." I explained.

"But Nixie!" Cameron argued and went quiet with the look on his older sister's face.

"What do you want?" Jack asked Pitch.

"Merely to see the reunion. Nixie has been visiting here often and terribly hurt each time her own siblings have walked through her because of a broken promise." He responded in a pleasant tone.

"Pitch. Leave it be." Nixie muttered.

"Fine, fine. Well it was nice seeing you again Totem but I must be going." He responded while stepping into the shadows and disappearing.

"Broken promise?" Cameron asked.

"You probably forgot. Don't worry about it." I replied and added, "Well it was great seeing you guys but I also have to go."

"What? No we can finally see you! You can't leave!" Lillian argued.

"Excuse you but I have people in need of my help, people who are dying. I will be back to visit again." I replied with my hands on my hips.

"But what if we won't be able to see you again even if you do come back?" Cameron asked.

"Then that is your fault for not believing in me now isn't it? You still believe in the moon when the sun comes up? Or the sun when nighttime falls right?"

"Well yeah bu-

"Same thing, same as when I was about to go to college. I would have been gone for a little while but always come back. I've been back for several years now regardless of being seen. Won't stop me now." I replied. They nodded in understanding and hesitated before stepping forward to give me a hug.

"See you later Snow Cap, good luck with your Guardian stuff, call me if you need help." She responded with a smile.

"Help? From you? I'd rather hang out at the equator in the summer." He replied teasingly.

"Aw you don't enjoy my company? That hurts." I replied. Various memories of him had been flashing in and out of my mind the past few hours since we met again.

"You know I do."

"Too bad the feeling isn't mutual. See you guys later." I said with a teasing smirk before changing into an eagle and flying up right into a thread of dreamsand.

"You still like her don't you?" Lillian asked, noticing the small smile on Jack's face.

"Why do you two keep saying stuff like that? We're just friends." Jack responded.

"Come on you can't tell me you weren't completely ecstatic to see her alive right? She's the first person to see you on sight. Didn't you say you knew Jamie before he could see you? Yeah he's your best friend but Nixie is your soul mate." Candy replied. Lillian's friend was ever the hopeless romantic. Jack rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, okay. I guess no matter what we say you're still going to...what is it you say Lillian?"

"Ship. We're still going to ship you. The ship sails itself and we will go down with it like the good captains we are." Lillian answered.

"Yeah, that." He answered.

"You four should go to bed, it's late." He added.

"You're only saying that because you're embarrassed by us for thinking you and our sister make a cute couple." Lillian argued.

"And I need to get back to the pole." Jack responded.

"Come on let's get inside. It's pretty cold." Jason said, to help out.

"Yeah, we should at least let Jack go." Cameron added as they ushered Lillian and Candy inside and Jack let the wind pick him up and flew off into the direction of the North Pole.

I didn't really need to work very hard in response to whatever it was Pitch had been doing lately but there was something bothering me. There was just something about that necklace that was more than just bad luck. Maybe it just caused bad luck for someone who didn't know how to use it.

_Who knows? Maybe he'd be willing to tell me._ I wondered and flew off towards Burgess where I knew an entrance for his home was. I thought back on a more recent memory that had resurfaced of Jack talking about the original entrance having closed up when they defeated him. It seems that the entrance had moved but it wasn't very hard for me to find it as animal instincts told me where not to go. I landed and changed into a wolf as I approached the hole that was deeper in the forest.

I approached it and looked down the hole, of course all I saw was black. I changed into a bat and dropped down swooping through the tunnel and landed on a rock before changing back to human and looked around the large cavern full of hanging cages as well as stone bridges and stairs lining the walls. Off to my left there sat a globe that seemed to be made of iron or another dark metal with many lights flickering and shining the way North's globe did.

I looked around the room but it seemed there was no one home.

"Pitch? You home?" I called, standing up and hopping off the rock. I did not get an answer.

"Hello? Anyone home?" I called again. I had to admit the place was pretty creepy but it didn't bother me much. I walked towards the closest staircase, my boots making small dull thuds as I walked. Once on the bridge I looked around again but there was no indication that anyone was around.

"Okay I guess I'll just come back another time." She replied with a shrug and turned to leave almost walking into Pitch. She stopped and jumped back, startled.

"Oh hey you are here." I said.

"Yes. Why are you?" He asked.

"I was just curious about the onyx pendant. It seems to be more than just something to cause bad luck." I replied.

"Just curious?" He asked skeptically.

"Hey you got it now I'm not sure I'd be able to get it back on my own anyways, but I mean it can't be just something that can cause bad luck. It can do other things can't it? If you know how to use it right? Or if the right person is using it." I inquired.

"Yes, well the pendant was created by my fearlings a long time ago. It was lost and held a portion of the power for when it would be needed." He replied.

"So like storing energy for later use. You found it again, dropped it, I found it handed it off to North and you took it back. Technically it is rightfully yours however your use of it is not really a good thing for the people is it? I'm still going to keep from fighting you unless the need arises. I was just curious about the pendant and wondered if you would be willing to tell me a little more about it." I responded.

"I cannot help but question your choice of not fighting against me. When you were human you did your best to keep the pendant away from me." He inquired.

"And it ended up getting me a broken ankle, bad luck and drawing unwanted attention to my siblings leading to my death. You have it now, nothing I can do I just want my siblings to be safe. I don't agree with your use of the thing but you're still driven and plagued by the fearlings you now command and control along with the nightmares so you probably won't stop just because I don't agree with it. I just ask that you leave my family alone." I replied.

"I will not make any promises or deals but if you continue to avoid fighting against me then I will try to avoid allowing harm come to your parents and siblings." He replied.

"Thank you." I replied.

"Do not thank me. It will not be forever, no one is exempt from my plans. Not you or anyone. I will just try to prolong it for the time being." Pitch replied ominously.

"Fine. See you around Boogieman." I responded and hopped up onto the stone rail, jumped off and morphed into a hawk flying out of the cavern and was immediately picked up by a strong gust of wind. A screech of surprise rang out of my beak as I tumbled through the wind current and noticed the cause of it. Jack Frost.

He looked behind him and noticed me trying to catch the wind and stopped landing on a tree branch.

"Oh hey there hawk. Sorry about that." He said with a laugh. I glared at him and screeched at him before landing on a tree branch across from him and changed back.

"That is not funny." I said.

He laughed and said, "Yeah it is. Now that I know it was you it's is very funny."

I threw a snowball at him, hitting him right in the face and causing him to fall off his branch. He fell onto the snow covered ground below flat on his back.

I laughed, "Now _that_ was funny."

A snowball flew at me. I put up my hand in defense but didn't notice the second snowball as it hit me in the face knocking me off my branch and onto the ground.

"Yeah I guess I deserved that." I replied but didn't get up. The snow was comfortable and continued to fall lightly. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, barely hearing Jack's light footfalls coming closer and then a weight was suddenly on me. I opened my eyes to see that Jack was sitting on my thighs.

"Am I comfortable?" I asked.

"Yes." H replied.

"Well you're not. Get off." I responded.

"I'm not?" He asked, pretending to be hurt.

"No your butt is bony get off." I answered. In response he hopped a few times.

"Ow stop that." I said shoving him off, he fell over sideways into the snow with a laugh. He rolled and laid next to me.

"I'm sorry." He said with a smile.

"No you're not, but do that again and you will be." I responded.

"So what are you doing here in Burgess?" He asked.

"I was curious about the onyx pendant and came to ask Pitch about it." I replied.

A surprised expression crossed his features, "What? You came to visit Pitch?"

"I already did. Like I said I was just curious about that pendant. Wanted to find out if he'd be willing to tell me a little bit about it. What's that expression for? It's not a big deal." I responded looking over at him.

"It's not a big deal?" He asked skeptically.

"Maybe it is to you but you forget we're mutual with each other for the time being." I reminded him.

"I don't understand how you can be that way." He said with a sigh.

"I don't expect you to. I want to avoid fighting him both because I just want to avoid it, start anew, but also because Pitch knows my brother and sister. I want him to leave them alone for as long as possible. I'm sure you can at least understand the latter part of my reasoning right?" I asked.

"Yeah. I just don't understand the former." He responded.

"Don't expect you or anyone else to." I replied and noticed something hanging off his staff.

"What's that hanging off your staff?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a charm you gave me for Christmas. Lillian and Cameron got bracelets to go along with it and sent one to Jamie, his friends and gave one to their two friends. They even got one for you...but they put it with your grave." He replied and lowered the staff so that I could see it better without having to get up. I let it sit in my hand as a new memory flashed. That particular part of Christmas day.

I held up my wrist to show him the bracelet my brother and sister had taken to my grave. I didn't know what it meant at the time of picking it up but now I know that it was the sound pattern of the words _we believe_.

"I got it. And now I know what it means too." I replied with a smile.

**Hello all:** So sorry about the late update and lack of editing, my editor is in class and I'm hanging out at school waiting for her. Writer's block is fighting my motivation. Anyways just thought I'd say this, Nixie has an rp/ask/personal blog on tumblr. It took much debating on weather I was going to make one or not and I finally decided to so there's that if anyone that is on tumblr wants to visit her blog the url/tag is totemguardianofaspiration and I also have one for my other rotg story character but her url/tag will be posted with my next update of that. I have a personal blog but if anyone cares to know that one (not likely) or any other general stuff then just send me a message.


	17. Chapter 16: Merry-go-Round

_Chapter 16 Merry-Go-Round _

I flopped onto my bed lying facedown. Not really intending to sleep, just lay there in silence for a little while. Just enjoy the quiet. Of course this did not last for long when I heard the front door open and close, notifying me of Lillian and Cameron coming home from school. It was now April, as far as I could tell the only thing that has been going on lately was children having nightmares more often than usual. Still not as often as good dreams but even so. Teenagers were starting to have them as well but it seemed that so far Pitch was keeping his word and staying away from my teenagers.

I heard my bedroom door open and two pairs of feet stampede up the stairs, however I didn't react to it, or at least not until two people piled on top of me.

"Get off meeeee." I whined.

"Where you asleep?" Cameron asked.

"No I wasn't." I answered.

"Are we dog piling on Nixie again?" I heard Jack asked but couldn't turn my head enough to see where he was until his weight was added.

"All of you get off me!" I responded while trying to push them off. None of them made a move to get up and, unfortunately I had one irritating but important limitation to my abilities. If I'm restrained by someone I can't change. This is included in being in another form, I get restrained by someone in another form I'm stuck that way. Luckily there was a difference between being restrained and stuck, say my foot gets stuck in a hole I can still change but if someone is holding me or restraining me I'm stuck until I'm released or get free, even hugs apply to this too depending on how tight of a hug.

I honestly don't know why I have a limitation like this but at a time like this it proves to be very annoying.

"I would have thought that you would have changed into something that can escape by now." Cameron commented.

"I can't." I muttered.

"What? You can't? Why not?" Lillian questioned.

"Not really sure. I just have a specific limitation. Now please get off." I replied.

"A limitation hm? What kind of limitation?" Jack asked curiously.

"If I told you, you would probably use it against me in some way." I responded.

"What? Why would you say that?" He asked, pretending to sound offended.

"Because you're mischievous, sly, conniving and a trickster." I answered, "I've known you for three months and I've gained back pretty much all of my other memories of you, I'm not so stupid as to tell you something that I know you would likely use against me for fun."

"I can't believe after all we've been through together you don't trust me. I even helped your brother and sister to see you." He said, sounding incredibly offended.

"I am grateful to you for that but I'm still not telling you. Please would you people get off? You're heavy." I responded. Finally they decided to get off of me.

"Thank you." I said pointedly and sat up.

"So what's this limitation?" Jack questioned. I rolled my eyes and didn't respond, only giving him a, 'I'm not telling you' expression.

"Will you tell me?" Cameron asked.

"No."

"I'm thinking it's something like you can't change your form if someone is holding you and it depends on how strong the hold is. Bet it works that way even if you're not in a human form." Lillian said. Damn her and her perceptiveness.

"Oh really? That's interesting and sounds irritating." Jack replied.

"Guess that's a small price to pay to having the ability to change into different animals and splitting yourself." I responded.

"Split yourself? Like Tooth and her fairies?" Cameron asked.

"No, when I split myself it's more like taking a puzzle apart piece by piece. The more pieces you take away the smaller it gets, in my case the less solid I am. Not disappearing for good or anything, just spread out and reform back together. I currently have ten pieces of myself out and I still have control, I have to concentrate on what I'm doing with them right now as well as pay attention to my current surroundings and keep my senses open for others in need of help." I explained and as I said this I visibly sent out another part of me, in the form of a fish swimming off.

"Can you use that when someone holds you?" Lillian asked.

"No, I can't split myself anymore than I already have if I'm solid enough for someone to have a hold on me." I responded and added, "I guess the limitation is supposed to keep me from hurting someone, say I change into some kind of big animal." I'm really not sure what the limitation was, either it was that or it might be something similar to the Guardian's besides Jack, they lose their powers if children stop believing in them. Jack is weak when it's too hot out. This could just be something to keep balance.

"What are you doing here anyway Jack? It's Spring in New Orleans, are you not burning up?" I asked.

"I'm okay. I just wanted to stop by, haven't seen any of you in a while since fall is in the Southern hemisphere right now." He replied.

"Not to mention Pitch growing as a threat." Lillian added.

"He hasn't been much of a threat lately. Besides giving a large amount of nightmares to children." Jack responded.

"I wouldn't take that as a good thing. The silence is probably an indication of getting stronger and creating a lot of nightmares will only help." I responded.

"We're helping Sandy keep them away from the children." He answered.

"While I'm keeping them off the teenagers and adults or did you all forget that they can get scared too? Or that Pitch can get stronger with their fear?" I questioned.

"They've been getting nightmares too?" Jack asked.

I gave him a skeptic expression before saying, "Did you seriously just ask that? I know you don't spend a lot of time around anyone older than twelve besides Jamie, Sophie, Lillian and Cameron but yeah teenagers and adults get nightmares too. More so than children because Sandy doesn't put much focus on them either. They just have good dreams and bad dreams. Now that Pitch is targeting everyone he can likely get more out of the people you five don't protect and the teenagers are still kids and need the protection of the Guardians."

"Right, of course, we should go talk to the other Guardians." He replied.

"I guess you're right." I answered.

"Okay then I guess we will see you two later." Lillian said.

"Yeah, I'll be back tomorrow." I responded.

"I don't know if I will be able to visit for a while." Jack replied.

"Well then maybe we can see you when we go to New Zealand this Summer, or their Winter." Cameron suggested.

"You all are going to New Zealand this Summer?" Jack asked.

"Mom and dad have friends who live there, we go and visit them for a month out of our Summer every year." Lillian explained.

"Yeah I'll be dropping by as well, I can show you where they will be." I answered.

"Great. I will try to visit sooner but if not I will see you then. Lets go and talk to the others, we're all meeting soon anyways." Jack replied and went to the door leading outside. We both gave a wave before he flew off, riding the wind and I changed into a bird and flew after him, allowing the wind to carry me all the way to the North Pole. The cold wind didn't do well with this form causing problems in flight to the point where I had to land and changed into the first thing I could think of, a snow hare. I sat in the snow that way until I warmed up.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked. I stared at him, one of my ears going down with a questioning expression.

"Too cold to fly?" He guessed. I responded with a nod. He chuckled and picked me up before flying again on to the village and in the large work-shop.

"Mate why are you carrying a bunny?" Bunnymund questioned when Jack landed.

"It's Nixie." Jack replied and out me down before I returned to my human form.

"I had to land and change form to an animal more tolerable of the cold weather." I explained.

"So you did show up. So you're ready to make it official?" North asked.

"No. I'm not a Guardian of childhood North." I responded.

"Then what are you doing here?" He asked curiously.

"Pitch is gaining strength not just with children's nightmares but teenagers and adults too. Teenagers should still be watched over by you all until they're considered adults in their culture right?" I replied.

"But most are considered adults." Bunny replied.

"No they're not, they are expected to act like adults but still considered and treated like children and who's job is it to protect the children? From nightmares as well? The Guardians of childhood right? Children are not just twelve and under, most teenagers should still be under your protection and as I've said Pitch is targeting everyone." I replied and sent out five more spiritual selves in different animal forms.

"You're right, we can discuss how that is divided, but for now will you at least join us today? We have much to discuss that you should know as well even if you will not fight with us." He replied.

"Fine." I answered.

After the meeting I headed out the door to leave and jumped into the form of a snow hare. I didn't even touch the ground before being grabbed by cold hands. I turned my head to glare at Jack.

"I'll fly you out of the Pole." He offered and did not wait for me to answer before taking off. It wasn't long before he landed at the top of a tree. I changed into my normal form and sat on a branch above.

"Let's go have some fun." He suggested.

"Any particular place in mind?" I asked.

"Yeah, I found this nice park in Ecuador. In one of the bigger cities, it's closed at night but that is not a problem for us." He replied with a smirk.

"Okay." I answered with a smile and changed into a bird and rode the wind beside him.

About half an hour later we landed in the middle of a large snow covered park with a lot of playground equipment. It was the biggest family park I had ever seen, it even had several merry-go-rounds, not the mechanic ones that have horses and play music but the metal playground ones. There were at least four of them around the playground. I immediate ran for one, having not been on one since I was about twelve, which was almost sixteen years ago.

Jack laughed and stood on the middle support bar while I spun around on the merry-go-round.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You. You don't act much like a kid, it's different." He commented.

"What do you mean I don't act like a kid? I play games and have fun." I questioned.

"Teenagers have fun and play games. Getting excited over playgrounds the way children do is different." He replied.

"I do you just hadn't seen it until now." I answered and continued to kick off the ground until it spun fast enough before jumping on. I noticed Jack jumping off the middle pole and land next to the merry-go-round, ready to push it.

"Don't you dare Jackson Frost." I immediately snapped and let go, allowing myself to fall off into the snow.

"I'm hurt that you don't trust me, first not knowing that little weak point in your abilities and now this." He said.

"I do trust you...in a serious situation, this is not and when it isn't I don't." I replied as he sat on the merry-go-round once it stopped and grinned mischievously, "Just as you shouldn't trust me in a non-serious situation."

Immediately I grabbed one of the rails and slung it with all my might, giving the merry-go-round and good spin, immediately Jack grabbed onto one to keep from falling off.

"Whoa! Nix!" He protested.

"Hey." I said with a smile and gave the rail another good push, not expecting Jack to let go allowing the merry-go-round to throw him off and into the snow, although he didn't move or even open his eyes. I walked over to him and poked his cheek, "Hey, open your eyes. I know you're okay."

Still he didn't move, not even a flinch. I rolled my eyes and stood up, not even getting one step away before arms wrapped around my legs tightly and knocking me down.

"Jack!" I protested with a laugh while trying to pull my legs out of his grip.

"That's what you get for spinning the thing so fast." He countered.

"It was fun, doesn't seem like we'll be able to have much fun soon." I replied.

"No, it doesn't seem that way. I wish I knew exactly what we were up against, it's hard to tell how strong Pitch has really gotten." He answered.

"Hope he continues to stay away from my family." I added.

"He won't forever, but I think he will for a little while longer, not wanting you to join us in fighting him." Jack replied.

**Me:** I am a completely awful person for taking so long with this and with my Athena story, I am so incredibly sorry, although I take even long with my other two stories (I'm so sorry!)


	18. Notes and Apologies

Notes and apologies

This is going on all of my stories here, I deeply apologize in taking so long with updates, I assure you I have not forgotten any of my stories and I am not going to stop updating it is just taking me a while. I have times where I get writer's block (very badly as you can see) and even if I have ideas (which I in fact do for all of them) I just cannot get myself to write and I have been starting to get busy again with job hunting and helping family and all that stuff.

I deeply appreciate those who have been sticking with me even after taking so long on my updates, I am trying to finish a new chapter for all of my stories, but I'm not sure how good they'd end up being if I do seriously force myself and I am trying to put off other stories (that aren't posted) until I finish with all updates.

Again I am very, very, very sorry I have not forgotten any of my stories I'm just an idiot who can't get past the block.

Also a random note I might go through and redo each story (oldest to newest), correct any past mistakes, not make too many changes just clean them up and throw in more detail I might have left out and want to add or throw in some extra story and such but I will not do that until I've finished the stories (some will end sooner than others).

If anyone has any ideas they want to see in the story feel free to share them with me (specify story please), it might be able to help me get through the blocks as well and if it is not something I want to put into the main story then I can still write a side chapter with it.

Any characters I use that others have sent in will have a bigger role as the story progresses but since they were not part of the original story-line it will take a few chapters and such as minor characters before they play larger roles and they will progressively become bigger characters and I thank those who are allowing me to use their characters.

...I think that is all, I mostly wanted to apologize for being so slow and assure everyone that I have not abandoned them I'm just having a hard time with writer's block (it's not just the ones on here it is also every story I have, original and fanfiction). I do check the email fanfiction sends things to regularly so you can always send me a message and I will be back to you within the day (usually sooner unless I'm really busy) or I am also regularly on tumblr (send a message if you want any of my URL's although one is an rp account...that I'm on most of the time), so that is another place where you can quickly get a hold of me.

I'm sorry again and thank you for sticking with me and being patient, I really don't deserve readers like you all and I love you! 3


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